Lost & Found
by BluestBunnie
Summary: What if Logan had met Rogue before his amnesia? What were Logan & Rogue's last months like before his bones were laced with adamantium and her disappearance? With his memory gone will he be able to remember Rogue? *UPDATED* 12/21/09
1. A Familiar Scent

Lost & Found

Chapter One - A Familiar Scent

He didn't see her at first, but he picked up her scent immediately. He stopped and browsed the crowd below him through the cage. The bar was dimly lit and filled with smoke; the crowd blurry to even his sight, but through the strong odor of sweat, smoke, and whiskey he picked it up. It was a sweet fragrance that reminded him of summer; a crisp inviting scent that flared his nostrils.

His opponent took advantage of his pause and hit him hard in shoulder blade. He let a low growl and returned the punch, hitting the man hard in the face sending him tripping backwards over himself and landing on the hard concrete. The crowd cheered as he left the cage in an attempt to find the girl who the scent belonged to. It was a familiar aroma and he racked his brain trying to place it but nothing came to mind.

Logan pushed through the heavy crowd and saw her sitting at the bar barely sipping on a drink. He stopped and stared at her, unable to move his feet. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. She was beautiful in a way he didn't know possible. She had silky auburn hair with a hint of red and two thick white streaks lining her angelic face. Her skin was pale and glowing, her lips full and dressed in dark red. He couldn't take his eyes away, was it possibly for God to have created something this beautiful... and why was she in a place like this?

He yearned to see more of her beauty- to be closer to her but he became light headed from taking in her scent and then she turned and looked at him. His heart skipped a beat and he cursed under his breath. He kept his eyes on hers, as he managed to move through the crowd out of her paralyzing sight. Her eyes were a brilliant green, sparkling with life. One look in them and he was trapped within the glistering forest world inside them.

He saw a life for himself in those eyes: a life where he could be content- happy. Did he even know what happiness felt like? No, he didn't. But he wanted to find out, and he knew he had to speak to this goddess.

He sat down at a booth and let his head sink in his hands. He knew this girl... somehow... and was startled by his reaction to her. How had he known her before? Was she the one to save the Wolverine from the demons who haunted him? He laughed at himself for thinking such things. There was no way he could have known a young beauty like that, and certainly no way neither she nor anybody could save him from what he was.

There was something about her; she tugged at his chest, begging him to come to her without even realizing it. He rubbed his forehead in distraught, trying to make some sense of what he was feeling. He knew he had to at least speak to her, at least get her name.

"Can I get you a drink?" A waitress asked reeling him back into reality.

"Yea… whiskey. Straight."

"Comin' right up," She turned and left towards the bar scratching the back of her bubbly blonde head.

He concentrated on how to approach her, what would he say? Would she know who he was?

He was deep in thought and didn't notice the waitress until she was at his table.

"Don't drink it all at once," The waitress said placing a glass of whiskey in front of him.

He took a swing of the warm whiskey, burning his throat as it went down. He dug through the pockets of his worn leather jacket for his cigar. It soothed his senses a bit and he stood up and slowly made his way closer to where the girl sat.

He leaned up against a wall a few feet behind her and watched her. She wore an olive green hooded jacket, a pair of torn jeans that fit her like a second skin, and a pair of leather gloves. His chest growled in arousal and curiosity as he observed her finish her drink in a matter of seconds. She kept turning and looking behind her, as if she was looking for someone.

He studied her for a while admiring her and trying to figure her out before he returned back to his booth for another swing of the hot whiskey. He was reaching for it when he heard glass breaking and screams. He stiffened and the metal under his knuckles itched for release. People ran for the back exit in a panic and he examined the room for the girl.

_Probably two pricks fighting over a beer,_ he thought to himself.

At the counter beyond the girl, the bartender fired a long rifle and Logan heard a loud growl as a monster with thick sharp teeth, howled in pain as bullets entered his chest. He had long dirty and tangled blonde hair that resembled a lion's mane, sharp claws, and black empty eyes. The monster clenched his fists and Logan hissed in surprise as the bullets fell right out of the creature's chest as his skin healed itself. The flesh grew back instantly covering his wounds... he was a mutant similar to him. Logan watched through his shock as the mutant picked up the barkeep and slit his throat with one long black claw.

The man's gun slipped from his lifeless hand and hit the floor in a clatter. The creature dropped the barkeep right beside it, thick blood draining from the perfect slit in his neck and the sickening thud of impact made Logan's nostrils flair. Then the animal turned and looked down at the girl Logan had been watching and licked his lips. The girl was in a defensive stance, ready to defend herself and kill if she had to. Her green eyes sparkled no more; they were filled with anger and fear.

Without thinking Logan charged at the monster, adamantium blades slid from his knuckles and he drove them into the mutant's chest. The monster howled and rocked back and forth causing Logan's metal claws to slip loose from his flesh. Logan landed on his feet and backed away from the blundering mutant who was unswayed by Logan's attack. He positioned himself between his enemy and the girl he longed for, and paused while considering his next move.

The girl screamed and watched in horror as the beast grabbed Logan by the neck and began to choke him. His black talons dug into Logan's flesh and gasped for air while struggling to get loose. He groped for his hands, trying to pry them loose when the girl threw herself at the monster. Stunned, the animal stumbled before tightened his grip around Logan's neck.

Unable to break free, Logan could simply watch through his fading vision as this... creature snarled fiercely at her, baring his teeth and then reached out to grab her. She tried to remove the pair of leather gloves she wore but didn't have enough time to finish before being swept up in the monster's gigantic hands; Logan winced as the girl shrieked as she was lifted up.

"Let go!" She yelped in pain, being squeezed by his large hand. The mutant turned back to Logan and threw him onto the floor with enough force to cause the Wolverine to grunt in pain. Logan gurgled as he tried to regain the air that had been knocked out of him.

"Logan!" The girl screamed in pain and fear for him.

All of the hairs on Logan's neck rose and he stared at her wide eyed and in shock. Hearing her speak his name sent chills throughout his entire body. His heart raced and his throat swelled up, he knew her voice from somewhere - just like her scent. Why was that sweet southern sound so familiar to him?

"How- how did you know my name?" He stuttered, his voice hollow from the former grip. The girl frowned and the mutant, having found what he wanted, turned to leave with her in tow.

He couldn't let her leave, not like that. He regained his strength in a matter of seconds and surged ahead at the beast once more. He had to take this girl for himself; something inside him burned for her, desired her beyond his control. He attacked with all his might, unleashing the mighty Wolverine inside him and lashed straight for the beast's throat.

The mutant grabbed Logan's wrist as his claws barely missed its neck. They roared at each other like savage animals in a territorial squabble. Logan drew back his free arm and punched forward, his claws ripping through the beast's flesh yet again. The monster dropped the girl and she landed on top of the bar, shattering glasses and knocking over beer bottles as she fell. The mutant took Logan's arm with both his hands and yanked him backwards, blood gushed from his wounds before they could heal.

"This isn't the time Sabertooth," a stern voice came from the shadows behind them. The girl gasped and jumped off of the bar and onto her feet at the unknown voice. She reached her un-gloved hand at Sabertooth, but before she could grab a hold of him she was lifted into the air as if there was no such thing as gravity. Logan watched in distress as a pair of dog tags she wore tightened around her neck and choked her. She gasped and brought her hands around them, trying to release herself from its grasp. Her green eyes flickered blue to Logan's amazement.

"Stop!" Logan snapped at the man behind the shadows. He didn't know how this man was doing this, but he knew that he was. The man chuckled and Sabertooth let go of Logan's arms and let one last roar before walking towards the shadowed man. The girl looked over towards Logan with desperation in her eyes. He returned her look and they locked eyes, his heart began to race.

"Find me…" She gagged in a raspy voice and the dog tags broke. The metal beads holding the tags were strewn across the floor and the dog tag landed with a loud clank before Logan's feet.

The girl fell from the air and Sabertooth caught her immediately, stuffing her into a large burlap sack. She screamed and fought against him but was no match.

Logan tried to stop them but couldn't move his body.

'What the hell?" He muttered as his arms and legs stood still while his brain was telling them to move, to attack. Sabertooth turned to follow the unknown man out of the bar and into the cold snow.

"This isn't your battle Wolverine, why don't you stay put for awhile?" The mysterious voice spoke before he closed the bar's door behind him.

"**No**!" Logan cried, still unable to move his metal limbs.

No matter how hard he struggled his body would not move, he cursed and began to panic. _Where would they take her? What would they do to her? How could he have let this happen?_ He felt incredibly weak and useless knowing she was getting further away from him while he couldn't even twitch.

Not long, the spell over his body wore off and he went crashing onto the floor in front of him. He pushed himself back on his feet and rushed outside trying to find the girl and her captors. He ran as fast as he could in the wooded area surrounding the bar trying to find them. There weren't even any footprints in the snow indicating which direction they might have done in. He couldn't smell the girl anymore either and the silence was earsplitting. He ran into the forest near by, the cold winter air hitting his lungs painfully as he inhaled and continued his search. When his sweat began to freeze down his back, he slowed and walked back to the bar disappointed and boiling with anger.

He ripped through the bar's door with his claws and kicked a nearby table cursing his fate. The table crumbled and he stopped in front of the girl's dog tags lying lifelessly on the floor. His eyes widened and his heart sank, engraved in the metal was his name.

'_Wolverine'_

* * *

**Author's Notes**

This story is a mix between the movies and the comics and my own imagination haha.

I would also like to thank my beta reader Jackman-Fan/Wolf Phantoms.


	2. Strange Encounters

Lost & Found

Chapter Two - Strange Encounters

Logan dreamt of the mysterious girl from the bar that night. He imagined himself running his fingers through her white strands of hair. He moved his fingers from her hair to her face, caressing her cheeks and full lips. She placed gentle kisses on his hands and knuckles. He took her chin in his hand and brought her face to his and stared into her emerald eyes. God were they beautiful, they begged him to touch her but when he brushed his lips against hers he buckled over in pain. He held his chest in pain ripping his shirt and gasping for air. His sight became blurry and he collapsed.

He reached out to her but two men in uniform with large guns at their waists were dragging her away. He hollered at them to stop but no words came out. She was being taken farther and farther away from him down a dark corridor and he was helpless. He closed his eyes and opened them to witness a horrifying scene. He watched as two gunned men pinned him down on a metal table and lowered him inside a tank of liquid. The liquid smelled awful burning the hairs in his nose and his skin felt like it was being torn off him, slowly. He let a heart wrenching scream and felt drugs being pumped inside of him. He could taste metal and as they pumped more into him he became sick and threw up what little was in his stomach. The toxic liquid quickly devoured it before him and he pounded his fists against the glass tank.

His claws released from in between his knuckles but they were no longer bone but metal. The liquid began to eat at his hands leaving raw flesh behind. He raised his arm and struck the tank with his newly metal laced claws. He saw the green eyed girl staring down at him and offering him her hand as the glass shattered.

Logan almost fell off the small bed in the back of his camper he woke so abruptly. He called out the name 'Marie' and was breathing hard as sweat poured from him despite the freezing Canadian weather outside. His eyes were wide in fear and his senses alert as his heart pounded in his chest. He wiped sweat from his brow and got out of bed as the dreadful dream played over in his head. He put on his boots and jacket and opened his mini fridge for a beer. He thought about the name he called out, _Marie_. He repeated it to himself several times, it was familiar. Could it possibly be the girl's name?

After claming down a bit he decided to go back to the bar where the girl had been kidnapped and try to find some kind of hint to where she might be. He knew there would be cops and townsfolk outside the bar gossiping about the beast and the murder of the bartender. Logan let himself feel some remorse for the man who had served him drinks for all long as he could remember. He'd make sure and get revenge for him as soon as he hunted down the bastard called Sabertooth.

Logan parked a ways down from the bar and walked through the thick snow towards a small crowd of townsfolk. They stood around yellow caution tape and police lights asking and telling about last night. He listened to see if he could pick up anything about the girl, where they might have taken her. He overheard a man talking to a police officer asking him if he'd seen a girl with brown hair and long white streaks. This got Logan's attention and he quickly rushed over to the man and the officer to listen better. The man asking about her had brownish red hair and wore red shades he held a photo in his hand. Logan moved closer in to get a better look of the photo; sure enough it was the girl, Marie. He was almost certain that was her name, but the man called her by another.

"Her name is Rogue I have sources that she was here last night," The man said sternly. Logan could pick up that this man was worried about her, but he was also concerned about his 'sources'. If he had anything to do with her abduction he would find out.

"Sorry sir none of my men have seen or heard anything about her. You may want to try talking with some of the witness," The officer said and pointed him in the direction of several people who were in the bar last night.

Logan kept a close eye on him and followed him through the crowd. The man held onto the photo tightly as he approached them.

"Excuse me, but did any of you see this girl last night?" He showed them the photo. Logan got a better look at it and noticed that this man was in the photo with Marie, or Rogue, whoever she was. His arm draped around her as if they were close friends. A man took the photo out of his hand and licked his lips as he observed it.

"Yeah, I saw 'er. She's one beauty der sittin' at the bar all night," The man said drooling over the photo. Even though Logan couldn't see the man's eyes hidden under his sun glasses he noticed his eyebrows perk in interest.

"D-did you happen to talk to her? Did you see her leave? Do you know where she might be?" He asked clearly worried about her.

"Slow down 'der boy," the man handed him the photo back, "a girl like that wouldn't give a man like me the time a day. All I know is that she was hittin' 'dem drinks hard and lookin' around like she'd seen a ghost or somethin'," He commented.

"A ghost?"

"Probably saw one of 'dem cage fighters' bein' beat to pulp by the Wolverine," another man remarked.

The man seemed concerned by the mention of Logan's cage name and he sulked off without a word into the snow. Logan followed him as he wondered farther away from the bar and down an icy alley. He took this opportunity to approach him the best way he knew how. He snuck up behind him and with speed and precision wrapped his arm around the man's throat and held him in a choke hold. He let his metal claws retract and held him against his chest.

"How do you know this little lady, bub?" Logan asked holding the man down as he struggled against him.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"You know damned well who I'm talkin' about. The girl in that photo, who is she?" He growled.

"And what makes you think I'm going to tell someone who's threatening me?"

Logan released his grip around the man's throat and swiftly pinned him up against a wall while keeping his metal blades close.

"Listen here pal, I need to know who this girl is. Now your job is to tell me how you know her and then pray that I don't slit your prissy neck right here."

"Wolverine…" The man cursed under his breath. Logan tightened his grip and brought his face closer to his.

"How do you know my name?" He growled. The man didn't responded and Logan picked him up and threw him into the snow. "_How do you know my name_?"

The man quickly reached towards his sun glasses and a red beam of light shot from them and clashed against Logan's chest sending him flying backwards a few feet. He slid through the snow until his back hit hard against a brick wall bringing him to a halt.

The man ran towards him keeping his fingers steady on a dial connected to his glasses.

"Who are you?" Logan asked picking himself up.

"Next time ask polite…." The man stopped when he noticed something metal in the snow. It was the dog tag that Rogue wore ever since he had met her.

"Where did you get that?" He asked. Logan quickly scooped it out of the snow and put it back in his pocket.

"She was wearin' it. Why does it have my name on it?" Logan asked while peeling some of his burnt shirt off his chest. The man looked at him with confusion.

"Scott!" A woman called to the man in the sunglasses. She came running up the alley towards them. She wore black leather with a sliver cape and had long white hair and mocha skin.

"Who the hell is that?" Logan asked.

"Storm what are you doing here?" Scott kept his fingers on his glasses but turned to face the woman.

"Storm?" Logan said referring that her name sounded ridiculous.

"Like Wolverine is any better than Storm?" She asked him with her hands on her hips.

"How do you people know who I am?" He growled.

"You'll find out if you come with us."

Both men glared at her.

"Are you kidding?" Scott asked.

"Why the hell should I go with you? Is this a threat?" Logan hissed.

"The professor wants me to bring him back with us."

"The professor knew he was here? Does Jean know I left?"

"Professor? Listen all I want is to know who this girl is. I don't want anything to do with some professor and I'm sure as hell not going anywhere with you," He directed this to Scott.

"We don't know where she is either Wolverine, come with us and help us find her," Storm offered.

Scott moaned in disapproval.

"To Hell with this, I'll just find her myself. This is messed up…" Logan said and turned to leave.

"Wolverine," Storm called to him," you don't remember her do you?" She asked. He held his head low and didn't reply.

"If you want to remember her, your past, please get in contact with us. We only want to help you, and find her," She handed him a small device that resembled a cell phone.

"I'll think about it," He moaned and continued walking away without stopping.

Scott kicked at the snow and mumbled something about Jean and walked off in the direction Storm had come. Storm watched as Logan left and hoped that he would join them and help find the girl whom he couldn't remember.

* * *

Logan kicked off his boots and opened another beer as he entered the back of his camper. Snow fell from the soles of boots and scattered about the floor. He sat down peeling off the rest of his torn shirt. If Logan had been any normal being Scott's lasers would have blasted a hole through his chest. But instead Logan was left with only a melted shirt. Things sure had managed to make his life a lot more interesting since he had seen that girl in the bar. The mysterious man who had frozen Logan's body in place, the monster Sabertooth, and now a man who shoots lasers from his eyes and a woman in cape. _What next?_ He thought.

He leaned back against his makeshift bed and let a long sigh. He would call the strange duo from earlier as a last resort but until then he would search for this girl, Marie, Rouge, whoever, himself. He had a gut feeling that her name was Marie despite what Storm and Scott had called her.

He removed his jacket and as it hit the floor the dog tag with his name on it rolled out. He leaned down and held it in his rough palms. He remembered last night when chain had been wrapped around Marie's neck choking her. Remembered the tiny metal beads hitting the floor and the harsh gaps for air she begged for. He let a low growl and punched his bed in anger. He didn't know why but he felt as if she was his responsibility and that he needed to find her and protect her. He felt some unique bond with her and if he didn't find her he would regret it for the rest of his long life. It was a gut feeling, a feeling he had been having a lot of.

Logan revved the engine and drove off unsure of where exactly he was going. What little light left from the sun setting reflected off the snow and filled his truck with a blue light. The windows fogged and the heater struggled to keep the truck warm. He fell into a daze as he traveled down the never ending icy road. He replayed the recent events over in his head trying to find some clue to where she might have been taken. He remembered her voice, speaking his name so well it was as if she owned it. The hairs on the back of his neck stood when he heard her call out to him at the bar, and they stood again when he remembered.

If only he could remember her. His good 'ol gut feeling told him he knew her somehow, and she apparently knew him. He cursed his amnesia not only for forgetting this goddess of a girl but for leaving him alone and lost in the woods with no past and no hope for a decent future.

He could remember a few, but those few memories weren't worth remembering or were too painful to think about. He remembered the day he woke in the woods, nude and wild like an animal. He went weeks without sleeping because whenever he closed his eyes he was confronted with nightmares. Nightmares that could have very well been flashes of his past - which he was scared to death of. If what he saw in his sleep was actually his past, then he was glad he didn't remember it. At least he tried to convince himself of that, but no matter how bad the nightmares he'd always be tugging at his mind and searching for what he used to be.

Logan snapped out of his daze when he heard a loud beeping sound coming from the glove box. He blinked a couple of times bringing himself back to reality. He had been speeding for hours and there was still no sign of a town nearby. The beeping continued and he cursed stopping the truck and reaching over to open the glove box where he had placed the strange phone the Storm lady had given him.

He hesitated answering. Whatever these strange people wanted from him he could tell it wasn't to harm him, but he still was uneasy about working with them like Storm had suggested. Logan preferred to do things on his own, but so far he was clueless on what to do, he would need some outside help. He picked up the phone and exited the truck walking over to a tree and unzipping his pants. He answered the phone with a grunt when he felt the cold air hit him as he relieved himself in the snow.

"What?" He asked.

"Wolverine, this is Storm. Do you remember me from earlier?"

"How could I forget?" He zipped his pants back up and left the yellow snow behind as he climbed back into his truck.

"Well according to the Professor you've forgotten too many years to count," She attempted to joke.

"Thanks for the reminder, what do you want?"

"We need your help, and you need ours to be able to find her, let us work together. We will help you Wolverine, please have some faith in us."

"How are you going to help me? You gonna send beam boy to come burn another hole in me? Sorry but I'm not interested."

"You must forgive Scott he was close to Rogue and is under a lot of stress due to her disappearance."

"You can help me by telling me where _Rogue_ is."

"Do you even remember her?"

"That's none of your business just tell me where they took her," Logan growled into the phone.

"We aren't sure as of yet…"

"You are wasting my time," Logan snarled.

"Please come to our school and I guarantee you it won't be a waste of your time. We can help you link together your past and find Rogue."

"School?"

"Professor Xavier, a brilliant and caring man has built a school as a safe haven for mutants like us," Storm explained.

Logan paused and let out a sigh. He had his pride and his own way of doing things, but in a situation like this he had no choice but to use their resources.

"What's the address?" He grunted.


	3. A Helping Hand

Lost & Found

Chapter three – A Helping Hand

Logan pulled up into a rather large garage after driving up the seemingly endless drive way. He parked and waited a minute before getting out of this truck. He felt uncomfortable and completely out of place at this mansion of a school. The place was huge but had an unexpected homeliness about it, which made it even stranger to him. He considered turning back around the way he came but he knew he had to do this to find Marie.

With a sigh he opened the door and stepped out to be greeted with a basketball at his feet. He looked up and saw a little boy about as tall as his knee looking up at him with a welcoming smile. Logan couldn't help but smile back and he tossed the ball back to him, the boy caught it, giggled and ran off in the other direction. For some reason that helped unnerve Logan a bit, which came as a surprise considering he didn't care too much for kids. He made his way towards the massive wooden front doors and knocked. No one came to the door and he looked around him as the little boy with the basketball came wondering up to him. He slipped right by Logan and pushed the door open with all his might.

"You don't have to knock here mister," The boy said entering the mansion leaving the doors wide open for Logan's entrance. Logan looked around him taking in the tall ceiling and wooden floors. The expensive paintings and custom made stained glass really caught his eye; this certainly didn't look like a school – at least from what he could remember them looking like.

"Wolverine?" A familiar voice said interrupting his examination.

"Is it just because I have a bad memory or have schools always been this... nice?"

Storm smirked at his remark, "We try to keep the kids comfortable here."

A group of teenagers came running by one of them knocking over a pricey vase. Logan couldn't help but grin when the girl looked straight into Storm's eyes with the guiltiest look on her face he had ever seen. The girl had stopped in her tracks and her eyes were so wide they looked like they'd pop right out.

"You should be more careful Jubilee, go tell Jean that our guest has arrived," Storm said with a hint of laughter in her voice and the girl let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God!" Jubilee said as she quickly left the room.

"So when do I get to meet with this Professor?" Logan asked resting his hands on his hips.

"He's away on business right now but if you're willing to stick around a bit longer he should be back in a couple of days."

Logan responded with a grunt.

"I want to show you something," Storm said turning and walking down the hall.

"Didn't you send that kid to go find a Jean person?"

"She'll find us."

"Oh she will?"

Logan followed Storm down several long hallways and up a flight of stairs when they stopped in front a door. There block of wood hanging on the outside that read _'Rogue'_ craved neatly in cursive hand writing. Logan took deep breath and his heart began to race as they entered her bedroom.

"This is Rogue's room," Storm said letting Logan take in the sight.

There was full sized bead with a canopy and an olive green comforter bigger than the actually bed. It looked comfy and he imagined Marie snuggled up in the blanket during the winter while reading a book. She had lots of books in a shelf on the wall across from the bed, some where romance novels others psychological thrillers and giant paper back books filled with exotic art created by people he had never heard of before.

She had a large bay window that looked out over a beautiful fountain in yard the behind the mansion. He imagined her spending hours looking out watching the day go by. She had a desk with text books and notebooks with endless scribbles of messy writing scattered about it. There was a wooden dresser, the same Mahoney wood as the other furniture with a few items of clothing seeping out through the opened drawers. It looked as if she had been in a hurry.

The walls had framed art in black and white of landscaping that one could look at for hours and find themselves lost in the photo. She had a vanity with several photos taped to the wood outlining the oval mirror. He walked over to it and noticed a tube of dark red lipstick, the color she had worn so well in the bar the other night. He examined the photos and his body became warm when he saw her staring back at him in the photos.

"Does any of this remind you of her?" Storm asked.

Logan thought hard about his question. He knew everything in the room radiated her, her scent and style. Unfortunately it didn't bring any memories of her to mind. When he looked at the photos he yearned to reach out and touch her.

"No..."

"Take a look at these, it was an art assignment the Professor gave her after moving here," Storm handed him two sheets of paper.

One of them was a painting of a young boy with white hair and blue eyes and he was inside of a box with black figures standing outside trying to get in. The other one was darkly shaded with charcoal and Logan tried to make out what it was. It looked like rusted bars with a pair of sad eyes behind them and a barely visible outline of a man's body.

"This...has to do with my past?" He wasn't quite sure if he had made it a statement or a question. He wasn't sure what to think of these drawings, just that they had meant something to him somehow.

Storm sat down on Marie's bed, "Do you remember _anything_ from your past?"

"Bits and pieces come to me as nightmares, but why do you care?" Logan became defensive.

"From what Rogue has told me about you, you seem like a man worth caring about."

It felt weird hearing this from a stranger.

"What do you people care about my demons? Why are you trying to help me is there some kind of catch?"

Before Storm could reply a woman withy fiery red hair wearing a white lab coat approached them.

Logan immediately became tense and backed away.

"What's wrong?" Storm asked jumping to her feet.

"I'm sorry I'll take off the jacket..." The woman said removing the lab coat Logan gave her a questionable glare.

"Jean has the ability to read minds," Storm remarked noticing that Logan had been un-eased by Jean's ability to pick up his dislike of her attire.

"Don't do it again," He said referring to her reading his thoughts.

"I apologize sometimes it happens on its own," Jean said rubbing her temple.

"I need a smoke..." Logan mumbled and left the room. He wondered down the halls and remarkably found his way back to where he started. He sat down on the large concrete stairs that lead to the door and lit a cigar. This was an awkward position he was in and he wasn't quite sure how to go about handling it. He reached into his pocket and took out the metal dog tag caressing the engraved words with his thumb. He sensed Storm walked up from behind him and he looked the other way.

"I know this is a lot to take in right now and I appreciate you coming here."

"I need to find her..."

"She means a lot to you?"

"Seems to be that way."

"When we find her she'll tell you what you need to know about your past, but until then we need your help recovering her. You saw her the night she was taken didn't you?"

"Yeah, before they took her she asked me to find her."

"It was Sabertooth and Magneto who kidnapped her they are part of a brotherhood much different from ours. They go about matters in... a much more _aggressive_ way."

"They the bad guys?"

"I suppose you could say that. We had been tracking them for a while when we noticed they were up to something, and that's how we managed to find you. We were almost certain they were after you and when Rogue discovered where you were she went out on her own to find you. I never expected them to be after Rogue. God only knows what they have in mind for her."

Storm crossed her arms and squeezed herself as a form of comfort. Logan wondered for a minute why these guys would be after him but decided to dismiss the question for now. He already had too much on his mind.

"Everyone here is really worried about her but I'm afraid we don't have enough man power to go up against the unexpected."

"So this is where I come in?"

"Yes, Rogue told us you were_ talented_ and she would be delighted if you were to help us rescue her."

Logan clutched the dog tags in his palm and stood up," Then let's figure out an attack plan."

Storm's eyes beamed with hope and she thanked him with her smile. She proceeded to tell him more about the School and the X-men and set up a conference for him to meet everyone.

* * *

Storm and Logan met with several other X-men including Scott and Jean in Storm's office.

"I would like to inform all of you that Wolverine will be helping us retrieve Rogue," Storm announced. Scott frowned and turned his head the other way and the other mutants introduced themselves.

"You can call me Logan," Logan said as he shook a furry blue hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Logan, Rogue told me a lot about you. I'm Hank McCoy," said the furry blue man. Logan was surprised at how formal he was considering the way he looked. He remembered seeing a photo of Hank and Marie on her mirror- perhaps they were close friends?

"Peter or Colossus, whichever one you prefer," Peter said standing beside a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He walked up to Logan and shook his hand.

"I'm Bobby," He said using his mutation to freeze Logan's hand. Logan gave him a strange look as the boy let go leaving Logan's hand a bit blue.

"Wait for us!" There were two girlish cries coming from down the hall. A brunette came running right through the door like a ghost, and the other came barging in.

"I'm Kitty nice to meet you!" The brunette said walking through the other girl and over next to Bobby.

"Hey hot stuff, I'm Jubilee," said the other girl. She was Asian and wore bright yellow. Logan remembered her being the girl who had knocked over the vase earlier. He arched his eyebrow and she blushed walking over towards her friends. He couldn't imagine these kids defending the human race.

"We need to find out where Magneto is first," Scott said looking over towards Jean.

"I'll try to use Cerebro but I can't guarantee anything…"

"Cerebro?" Logan asked.

"Cerebro is what we use to track down a mutant's location, that's how we found you. The Professor is the only one who can use Cerebro to its full potential so we have having a hard time tracking down Magneto and Rogue's position," Jean explained.

"How come the Professor isn't here to help you?"

Everyone became silent and a few looked to the floor.

"He's not away on business is he?" Logan turned to Storm.

"He has become ill…" Storm said with a frown.

"He's staying in one of the best hospitals in America and with excellent care. He should be healthy enough to come back home soon," Hank said trying to cheer the group up.

"Either way he's not here right now and we have to find Rogue!" Scott said pounding his fist against the table they all stood around. He was clearly upset and Jean's efforts to calm him were failing.

"Chill out there one-eye we'll find her as long as I'm here," Logan said confidently.

"Don't act like you're here for her all the sudden, you weren't there for her when we found her half dead!" Scott yelled.

Logan was angry and confused by his behavior.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" He growled and Scott stared him down without a word.

"Listen I don't know what the hell you're trying to get at…"

"Come on you two don't fight. We'll find Rogue, I'll go to Cerebro right now," Jean said stepping in between the two men.

She gave Scott a long sad look as she walked out.

"I'll go with her, Storm?" Scott said and Storm followed behind him leaving Logan with Hank, Kitty, Jubilee, Peter and Bobby.

"Scott's become pretty attached to Rogue since she's been here. You'll have to look past his ... outbursts," Hank told Logan.

"Yeah right, Scott's _in love_ with Rogue! It's so obvious!" Jubilee exclaimed. Logan let a small growl under his breath.

"Oh don't say that Jubilee! Scott is in love Jean we all know that, Rogue is like his little sister," Kitty explained.

"I feel the way Scott does, Rogue is a friend to all of us and we should all be just as anxious to find her as him," Peter told the two girls very seriously and left the room.

"It's a shame you don't remember her, some friend you are," Bobby told Logan.

Logan let his claws release from his left hand and he showed his teeth to Bobby.

"I'm not in the mood for this right now kid, so if you've got something to say to me," He lifted his claws in front of Bobby's face, "then talk to these," Logan growled.

"Oh wow he's so fine," Jubilee told Kitty as she watched Logan with love struck eyes.

"I just think it's pointless for you to be here," Bobby said despite being a bit scared.

"Now, now let's not fight each other. We need to save our strength for the bad guys," Hank said stepping in between the two. Bobby grabbed Kitty by the hand and they left the room, Jubilee skipped behind them.

"Bye handsome!" She called out to him before closing the door.

Logan let out a sigh and sat down at the table.

"I made the wrong decision staying here," He said.

"They'll grow on you and you're doing the right thing helping us find Rogue. With the Professor ill we need all the help we can get," Hank said hoping to lighten Logan's mood.

"So you knew her well?" Logan asked off topic.

"Rogue? I suppose you could say that we our friendship has grown since she's been here."

"H…How long has she been here?" Logan asked immediately regretting it afraid of what the answer might be.

"Well now," Hank placed his furry finger on his chin in thought, "It'd say about four years."

Logan felt as if somebody has knocked the wind out of him. _Four years? _With both eblows on the table he placed his hands on each side of his temple and tried to regain himself. What the hell had he been doing all this time while she was off… away from him? How could he have missed four years of that young beauty's life?

As Logan lost himself in his thoughts of despair Hank walked back and forth anxious to hear if Jean had been successful or not in finding his dear friend.

What seemed like hours passed and Logan was jerked from his thoughts when he heard the loud roar of a motorcycle being started.

"_Scott please listen to me!" _

Logan could hear Jean's voice coming from the garage.

"_I have to find her now Jean before it's too late."_

"_If you leave now it's over between us. Is she worth ruining our relationship?"_

There was a long pause and Logan heard the roar of the bike as Scott drove off down the long drive way. He also thought he heard Jean crying but it was too faint to make out for sure.

"Hank, Logan," Storm came barging into the room. Logan was almost certain he felt static radiating off her.

"We found her!"


	4. Betrayal

Lost & Found

Chapter four – Betrayal

_-Four years ago-_

It was a Sunday afternoon in a southern town and Marie was sleeping in her bed tangled up in her sheets. The sun shone down from the skies and through her window filling her room with warmth and sunshine. She dreamt of herself traveling on her own with the windows down in her car and the wind whipping her hair around. When she woke she turned in her bed and blinked a few times against the sun's rays. With a cat-like stretch and a tired yawn she slumped out of bed and made her way to that bathroom.

After tidying up she followed the smell of her foster mother's baking down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Morin' Rogue," Her mother said observing a tray of burnt cookies.

"Ah wasn't expectin' you to be here," Marie mentioned as she opened the fridge looking for something to drink.

"Well I quit my job," Her mother said dumping the cookies into the trash can and sliding her fingers through her hair as it changed from brown to a brilliant red. Her classy business suite disappeared leaving her nude in blue scaly skin. Her puppy dog brown eyes became sleek and golden.

"If you'd call that a job, you can't quit a company you started," Marie remarked un-amused by her mother's transformation.

"We mutants aren't going to get what we deserve trying to reason with ignorant humans who have their pride and fear shoved so far up their asses they won't return a damn phone call."

"So what are you going to do?"

"_We_ my darling are going to take charge and fight for what's ours. There's a war coming Rogue and I'll make sure that humans won't be the ones conquering. Things won't change for the better in an office or over a phone. I found this research lab…."

"Ah don't care," Marie said cutting off Raven.

"Rogue darling, this is going to be just as important to you as it for me. You will be a huge part of the future for mutants. A brilliant scientist I met is willing to work with you."

Marie arched her eyebrow in disapproval.

"Ah don't want to be some test subject Raven, how could you even consider that? Ah don't know if you remember or not but I am your daughter," She spat and turned to leave.

"You'll be able to touch," Raven cooed knowing this would get her daughter's attention.

Marie stopped and turned back around to face her.

"How?"

"Dear, this is a brilliant man. He's worked with many mutants and wants to help us. He can help you become stronger, control your mutation."

"Why should Ah believe you?"

Raven walked up to her daughter and placed her hands on her covered shoulders.

"I want you to be able to touch your mama. I knew when I adopted you that I wouldn't be able to touch your skin, but I didn't realize then how hard it would be. I want to touch my baby's soft skin, be close to you."

Marie looked down at her feet taking to heart what Raven had said.

"Ah do wanna touch mama, ah really do. But the people you know, well, they usually don't have the best intentions…."

"Dr. Stryker is a good man, you can trust him I put my word on it."

"He's human?"

"He is a human, a talented one. He wants to help mutants any way he can."

"Well if you're actually working with a human than ah suppose you really do trust him. Ah guess I'll do it Raven….. Mama…."

"That's a good girl. We'll leave tomorrow."

"So soon?"

"Of course," Raven said walking away from Marie ending the conversation. Marie stood there for awhile thinking over what she had agreed upon. She had a bad feeling about it but the idea of being able to touch excited her beyond reasonable thinking and she put her bad vibes behind her.

* * *

The next morning her mother woke her early with a hot cup of coffee.

"Drink this so we can get going." Raven said sternly and began pacing back and forth around the kitchen.

"What are you so anxious about?" Marie asked concerned by Raven's behavior.

"It's nothing we've just got a long trip ahead."

"How far is this place?"

"A ways."

"How far is "a ways" exactly?" Marie was growing suspicious.

"Canada."

"Canada?" Marie almost spit out her coffee, "are you serious?"

"More serious than I'll ever be. Come on, let's get going."

They got in the car and headed north towards the closet airport to catch plane over to Canada. At least that's what Marie thought, she also though that her coffee had tasted a bit strange. A couple of hours into their drive she became dizzy and incoherent as the spiked coffee ran through her bloodstream.

"W-what did you do to m…me?" Marie muttered while trying to unhook her seat belt.

"You've got a long trip ahead of you Rogue, why not get some rest," Raven said acting as if all were normal.

"Where are you taking me?" Marie grasped onto the dash board trying to control the dizziness. She reached her hand out and touched Raven just long enough for the blue skinned woman to black out for a second. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her grip on the steering wheel loosened. The car swerved and Marie pulled at the seat belt but was too disjointed to unhook it. She had absorbed Raven's thoughts and now knew what her twisted mother had planned for her. A science experiment, just as she had feared.

Raven regained consciousness in a matter of seconds but no quick enough to advoid hitting a tree. The went crashing into busting the windshield out and crumpling the hood like a tin can. Raven moaned and regained her composure. It seemed like they were both unharmed by the wreck and she dug through the driver's seat compartment and grabbed her cell phone dialing a long number while keeping her eye on Marie. Marie couldn't fight the drugs any longer and had passed out.

"Get Stryker on the phone _now_," Raven hissed into the phone.

"I need a pilot over here immediately. The girl knows what we're doing you have to come take her from me."

"Yes I drugged her you idiot."

"I'll be waiting, come quickly. I'm the one doing you favor remember?" Raven threw the phone against the dash board in anger. She turned and looked at her daughter and ran her fingers through her hair.

"You'll understand when it's all over."

* * *

-Canada-

Logan's ear's perked when he heard a girl's screams echoing through the narrow hallway connecting to all the cells. He watched as two guards carried the screaming girl towards the cell next to his. She was handcuffed and being dragged carefully as the men tried to keep their distance. Stryker, the father in law he had once trusted and worked for, followed behind with a slick grin. It took all the control Logan had to keep from strangling the man through the cell bars.

"Let me go you bastards! Just wait until ah get my hands on you…" the girl spat at them while kicking and struggling to get away. They tossed her into the cell next to him and the skin on her knees tore as they scraped against the floor.

"Ah'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" The girl threatened them. Logan was surprised by the girl's language she looked around seventeen or eighteen but had the vocabulary of a grown man. She had shoulder length brunette hair and green eyes. He stayed hidden in the shadows of his cell and watched intently as Stryker inched up against the cell bars to observe his new pet. The girl jumped to her feet and slammed herself at the bars causing him to back away.

"Feisty aren't we? Just like Mystique."

"Don't compare me to that backstabbing bitch!" The girl struggled against the handcuffs.

Marie keep a threatening look on her face as she held back tears that stung the rims of her eyelids.

"Get me out of here!" She choked out.

"No can do, I have plans for you. Don't worry though, I made a deal with this _backstabbing_ mother of yours. I won't keep you here_ forever_," He laughed and turned his back to her and walked off down the long corridor. Logan watched as the girl fell to her knees and huddled in a ball as she let her tears run free. He didn't know what to do as she sobbed into her hands he tried not to feel bad for her.

After awhile she started struggling with the handcuffs again but couldn't get them off. With a sigh she tried to ignore them and stood to her feet examining her cell for a way out. Logan knew all too well she wouldn't find one and tried to hide deeper in the shadows as she looked his way.

She jumped a bit when she noticed him in the cell next to hers. He stayed quite and looked the other way.

"Were you just going to sit there and pretend ah wouldn't see you?" She asked while trying to get a better look.

She_ was_ feisty for such a young girl Logan thought.

"That's what I was going for," He answered emotionless.

"Well it didn't work," She examined him. He had wild hair and hazel eyes that told a tragic tale. He had a handsome face and looked a good ten years older than her.

She took her eyes off him and slumped down against the wall. He watched her through the corner of his eye as she sulked. He found himself admiring her sleek legs and became aroused by the view her tiny shorts left for him to see. He shook his head reminding himself of his situation and looked to her face. He enjoyed her face more than her legs or shorts and cursed himself for thinking such things about a young girl.

The girl whimpered and mumbled the word "mama" and he became sad. He told himself that he wouldn't feel guilty for her, he wouldn't befriend this girl. He decided not talking to her would help him keep his distance, no need to make a friend in a place like this. He cringed when he thought of the things they did to him, and will do to her. No need to make a friend who won't be around for much longer. She didn't have a healing ability like him she would die to the experiments.

The next couple of hours Logan watched the girl roam the cell determined to find a way out. She knew he was watching her and she secretly enjoyed it. It helped calm her in some unknown way.

"You won't find a way out from in here," he spoke.

"Tell me where than," she demanded.

"You'll have to wait until the guards unlock the cell."

"So they can take me away and do only God knows what to me?" Her mouth quivered as she spoke clearly upset.

"You wait until they have their guard down and make a run for it."

"If that's so true how come you haven't done it? Why are you still here?"

"I tried."

He paused and she waited from him to continue but he didn't.

"And they stopped you before you could make it?" She guessed.

"You could say that."

He recalled what happened…

_It was the forth day they had been trapped him here. He had managed to break loose from their grips on the way to one of the labs but didn't make it very far. He ran down the long halls past large generators and dead ends until they caught up with him. They shot him six times in the back with tranquilizers and locked him back in the cell. The only good that came out of it was they haven't attempted any more experiments on him….yet._

"Then what do you suggest?" The girl asked. His eyebrow arched in interest when she said this. Could she possibly help him escape in some way? He quickly shook the thought away.

"There's no way kid. When I get my strength back I'll figure a way out on my own."

She sent him a mean look and curled up on the cold floor with her back facing him. The jail was disturbingly quite and she was too scared to close her eyes to sleep. Logan watched her the whole night as she tossed and turned. She would fall asleep for ten minutes max and mumble things he could barley make out. Then she would wake again startled as if she had forgotten where she was.

At one point during the night she got up and started hitting the handcuffs against the cell bars. Her arms were hurting from being held behind her, and her wrist hurting from scraping against the metal. She tried grinding them against the bars but they still didn't break.

"Come here." Logan told her. She looked up at him through her brown locks of hair and made her way towards the corner of the cell. She kneeled down and slid her cuffed hands through the bars into his cell. He started to fumble with the lock but with her back facing him she couldn't tell what he was doing. She heard an odd sound, like flesh being torn and quickly spun around. The man had three long bones retracted from his knuckles. They were a pale white and looked like they had been sharpened at the ends. She was shocked by them but surprisingly not afraid.

"You goin' to stare all night or let me get these off of you?" He asked. She said nothing and turned back around while he picked the small lock with one bone claw. After a few minutes of picking the handcuffs they slid off her wrist and landed on the concrete floor. She sighed in relief and turned around to face him.

"Thanks Shugah," She said with a thick southern accent, and gave him a sweet smile.

"No problem kid," He answered. He slid his hand through the bars to her side of the cell and caressed her raw and bruised wrists while examining them for infection. It was so unexpected she forgot about her skin for a second and let him touch her and nothing happened. After a few more seconds she could feel herself start to tug at his life and jerked away from him before he could notice.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize I was doing that," He said lowering his head.

"N-no, thank you…" She was amazed that he had touched her for longer than a second without passing out. He didn't act like he had felt her pull at him so she didn't say anything.

Logan picked up the handcuffs and hid them behind the tin toilet in his cell.

"Never know when they might come in handy." He imagined himself strangling Stryker with them.

"Does it hurt when they come out?" The girl asked changing the subject.

"Every time…" he answered a bit surprised by her question.

"What's your name?" She asked and he paused for minute. He debated telling her his name.

"Logan," he gave her his real name.

"Ah'm Marie," she batted her long eyelashes.

Logan smiled for the first time since he'd been kidnapped and taken here.

There weren't any windows in the cells but they could tell it was morning, the air had gotten colder and Marie shivered not costumed to the harsh Canadian weather. She buried her head in her lap pretending to sleep when they heard a large door being opened from down the hall. Logan observed as loud footsteps echoed towards them.


	5. A Second Mind

Lost & Found

Chapter five – A Second Mind

Stryker and a guardsman approached Marie's cell as she pretended to sleep. Logan watched through the corner of his eye as the guard opened the cell with a large ring full of keys that all looked the same. Stryker stood outside the cell as the guard reached down to grab her shoulder. She slid her un-cuffed hands from underneath her stomach and lashed out at him. She grasped his neck choking him and sucking his life away. They had not expected her handcuffs to be off. Logan watched amazed as the man's skin became blue and he started to convulse. He knew of sure than that she was a mutant like him.

Stryker grabbed a hold of the man's large rifle and struck Marie against her temple causing her to let go and collapse. Logan tried his best to stay calm knowing that it wasn't time to attack his enemy. Not yet, despite what he'll do to this sweet southern girl.

With the guard's memory hers Marie now knew everything he did. Her eyes became wide with fear as she experienced the awful torment they had put her cell mate through along with many other poor mutants. She knew which keys went to which locks and she knew how to fight like he did even if it was only temporary. Stryker held the gun to his side not expecting Marie to attack again but she did, she flipped herself over and grabbed a hold of the gun with grace and speed. He lifted the gun trying to shake her off but she pulled harder.

Stryker used his free hand and grabbed her by her neck. She noticed his hands were covered with leather gloves. He pulled her away from the gun and pointed it against her head while keeping a firm grip on her throat.

"How did you get your handcuffs off?" He asked looking over in Logan's direction.

"You'll be punished for helping her Wolverine."

Marie struggled against Stryker's grip showing no fear of the gun pressed against her head.

"As for you, I have plans," He told Marie and kicked the guard on the floor until he woke grasping his head in pain. She hadn't held onto him long enough to keep him out. She couldn't handle any more of his dark memories than she had already absorbed.

"What did that bitch do to me?" He moaned and glared at Marie.

"Handcuff her," Stryker demanded. The guard pushed himself off the floor and hesitated in handcuffing her.

"Scared of a girl Jack?" Stryker mocked him. He carefully and quickly handcuffed her and backed away.

Stryker let go of Marie's neck and she stumbled back gasping for fresh air. She considered trying to attack again but her adrenalin had gone and she no longer felt bold enough. Now she was scared of them, scared of the experiments they had performed on Logan. She turned and looked at Logan, his head was down and his fists white and clenched with anger.

"Grab her," Stryker said turning around and leaving. The guard noticed Marie's strong front had disappeared and felt more comfortable grabbing her by her clothed shoulder and dragging her along behind them.

Logan was afraid for her and prayed that she would survive whatever they had in mind for her. No one should be burdened with demons like him; no one deserves to go through whatever is in Stryker's head, especially a young girl like herself.

* * *

As Marie was dragged down the long concrete corridors she recognized the paths and doors from the guard's memories she had absorbed. This place seemed to be a maze.

They entered a room that smelled strongly of ammonia and it reminded her of a hospital. There was a woman in a white lab coat fiddling with some strange device that looked like a dog collar and stood above a metal bed like the ones in dentist offices.

"No!" Marie squeaked as they threw her on the metal bed and began strapping her to it. She was trembling she was so frightened and watched as the woman brought a needle to her arm and stuck it in her skin releasing some kind of chemical into her veins. Next the woman lifted Marie's shirt above her chest exposing her stomach and breasts. Stryker observed her as if she was his pet and the guardsman licked his lips liking what he saw. She felt ashamed embarrassed and tightly closed her eyes. The woman examined Marie's body checking for any kind of open wounds but found only one on her head where Stryker had hit her with the gun.

She ignored that and spoke a number into a cordless radio. Seconds later a door from the other side of the room slid open and another guardsman walked in with a boy a little older than her. He was heavily chained and had the dog collar like device around his neck. He had white hair and cold blue eyes and was very thin. There were bruises on his pale skin and his small blue veins showed. He looked as if he were dying. She also noticed that patches of his hair were missing – as if someone had pulled it out.

Stryker had a wide grin on his face as the doctor told the boy to touch Marie.

"Touch her and don't let go. She'll end your suffering," Stryker ordered.

The boy did as Stryker said and got closer to Marie and she struggled against her restraints.

"No! No! Please don't, stay away!" She screamed and begged him.

"Ah'll hurt you, don't touch me!" She cried but the boy hovered over her, looking in her eyes with his. He had bags under them and they were emotionless. Chills shot through her spine and goose bumps formed on her arms.

He reached his hand out and wrapped his fragile fingers around her arm.

He closed his eyes as he felt his already faint life being sucked away.

"P-please don't! S-stop…" She begged shaking her head and tears fell from her eyes as she took in his memories.

"I need this…." He mumbled his dry lips cracked as he spoke and his voice was raspy. The blue from his eyes faded and his white hair turned translucent. His eyes rolled back in his head and she could fell his heart beat vanish. He dropped to the floor and Marie sobbed. The boy was dead; she had killed him with her poisonous skin.

* * *

His memories and personality flooded her brain and she thrashed against the metal bed screaming loudly. Two locks of hair that lined her face became white like the boy's hair and blue specks appeared amongst her green eyes. She blacked out as she felt him take control of her body.

_The white haired boy, Gale was his name, was young in this memory. About six years old and he was outside near the lake behind his home. It was winter and everything around him was white with snow. He felt like he was in the middle of nowhere all alone, no one around to play games with him._

_He danced around the lake pretending to be hero slaying the make believe dragon that lived at the bottom of the lake. He grabbed a small tree branch from the ground and began hitting it against the thin ice that covered the lake. _

"_Come out dragon!" He hollered hitting the ice harder with his stick. He giggled and hit harder and harder inching closer to the icy water. He leaned in too far and fell into the lake. He screamed and yelled while struggling against the water as it took him under. He began to sink to the bottom of the icy depths to his death._

"Gale!" Marie let a blood curdling scream as she woke. Her throat burned intensely and she felt as if she was suffocating. She noticed she was in her cell and began to sob hysterically.

"Someone save him!" She screamed sliding her hands against the cell floor as if trying to grab onto something. Her fingers bleed as she tore them on the concrete.

"Marie, calm down! It's okay!" Logan called to her through the cell bars; his voice cracked seeing her like this.

"It's not okay, ah- ah killed him… Oh God, ah killed somebody Logan," She cried and shook back and forth.

"C'mere," Logan said signaling for her to come to him. She just held her face in her hands and continued to sob.

"C'mon Marie, over here it'll be okay," he lied knowing here things will never be okay here.

She crawled over towards him and he held his hand's through the cell bar's and was going to wrap them around her but she screamed and jumped away.

"Don't touch me! Ah'll kill you too!" She cried.

"No, you won't," He pointed to the collar around her neck. She sniffled and ran her fingers along it.

"What?" She choked and reached her hands out to touch his hand. Nothing happened and it was obvious that this device rid her of her mutation.

"Ah can touch…" She said and cried harder as she inched back over to Logan. He wrapped his arms around her chest in comfort and held her through the cell bars until she stopped crying.

He didn't know why he did this, his body was acting on its own he guessed. He told himself he wouldn't pay mind to this girl let alone comfort her, but he did. He felt some strange bond with her. Was it because they were both prisoners? Because they were both mutants with an unlucky fate? Whatever it was it bonded them somehow.

Marie ran her hands through her new white strands of hair.

"Ah feel like… there is someone else inside my head," She spoke, "I've never actually killed someone with my powers before. It….it feels like he is part of me now. Ah saw one of his memories, he was drowning. Ah didn't want to kill him…"

"Whatever happened, don't take it out on yourself kid."

"He looked so… so sick. His name was Gale he had on a collar like this one," she traced the collar with her fingers again.

"Ah can touch because of this…" She ran her fingers along Logan's knuckles.

"Ah haven't touched someone in so long…" She made her way up his arm brushing her finger tips gently across his skin. She seemed to be in a daze as she watched herself touch him she brought her fingers to his lips and touched them. He was surprised by this but let her continue, enjoying her soft touch.

"We'll need your mutation to get out of here," He said breaking the silence.

"Ah know which keys open our cells. When ah touched the guard ah absorbed his memories," She looked down thinking of the memories of Logan, she took her hands away from him.

"What?" He asked.

"Ah saw what they did to you," She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "ah'm sorry."

"Don't be. We'll figure out a way out of here together, just stay strong."

Logan's ears perked and he jerked away from the cell bars when they heard a door open and close.

"No…" Marie hissed and backed up against the corner of her cell. Her body began to tremble.

The guardsman from earlier, Jack, appeared before them with a grin on his face.

"Go away!" Marie spat at him.

He unlocked her cell and made his way inside.

"You aren't so tough now are ya?" He said walking closer to her without any hesitation.

"What a shame to have such pretty skin that can't be touched. But that's all changed thanks to this huh? Stryker is a brilliant man." The guard said touching the collar around Marie's neck. His breath smelled of liquor and Maria shuddered.

Logan growled under his breath not liking how close the guard was to her.

"He's a bastard, just like you," She turned and looked at the wall trying her best to not look afraid.

"You've got quite a mouth on you," Jack said and grabbed her by the back of her hair. He pulled her to his face and kissed her hard. She grunted and struggled against him, yelping when she could get air. He grabbed her wrists before she could hit him and pushed her up against the wall and took his mouth from hers.

"You taste sweet, you should talk more like you taste."

"Screw you! Get away from me!" She spit at him and he slapped her across the face.

Logan got to his feet and banged against the cell bars.

"Leave her alone, go mess with someone else bub," He growled.

The guard left Marie's side and walked over towards Logan. She gasped and tried to stop her legs from shaking.

"How 'bout I go _mess_ with that wife of yours." Jack said with a sly grin.

"Then go do it and leave her alone!" Logan snarled trying his best to keep his cool.

"Nah, I don't like sloppy seconds," Jack looked over towards Marie," besides I've always wanted to know what a virgin felt like."

Logan glared at the man as he made his way closer to Marie.

Marie trembled and inched across the wall trying to get away from Jack.

"L-leave me alone," Marie said as he grabbed the collar of her shirt.

He licked his lips and took a small knife out from his pocket. He placed it against her bottom lip and she whimpered as he cut a small slit in it. Blood drizzled from it and she reached out to grab the knife from him but wasn't quick enough.

"Not so fast sweetie," He grabbed her by the back of her shirt as she tried to run to other side of the cell, near Logan. He held onto her shirt and she tried to pull away from him but he wouldn't let go. She pulled her arms inward and slid out of the shirt freeing her self and sending him stumbling backwards. She shivered as the cold air hit her exposed skin.

Jack's knife had fallen on the ground and Logan told her to grab it. She got a hold of it and held it in front of her threatening Jack with it.

"Stay away from me," She said pointing it towards him as he moved in. He laughed and pulled out an even larger knife from his boot.

"This is only turning me on more," He said rushing at her with the knife. She tried to move out of the way but couldn't and the knife pierced her side and he pinned her up against the wall. She coughed up blood and took deep breaths, her body in now in total shock. Her wound began to bleed profusely.

"Marie!" Logan called out to her.

"Stay out of this!" Jack cursed and grabbed Marie under he arms as she slid down. He pulled her back up and pressed his body up to hers.

"Stryker isn't going to be happy with that," Logan said sarcastically.

"It ain't a bad cut, she'll live, right sweetie?" He started kissing her neck.

"Get the _fuck_ off of her!" Logan growled.

"Get off…"Marie moaned in pain and tried to push him off but didn't have the strength. Instead she slid closer to the bars of Logan's cell. Jack let go of her and she fell to the floor as he began to unbuckle his belt.

Logan howled and thrashed against the bars. He hated not being able to do anything and it made his blood boil. Marie held her wounded side trying to keep it from bleeding worse. Logan had an idea and he rushed to the tin toilet in his cell and grabbed the handcuffs hidden behind it.

He waited for Jack to get close. Marie noticed what he was doing and reached for the bars to drag her self closer to him but Jack stopped her.

"Where ya think you're going?" He was breathing hard and his pants were down. He grabbed her shorts and tried to pull them down but her kicking prevented him from doing so. She kept reaching for the cell bars but couldn't quite get a hold of them.

She screamed and kicked him in the face. He whipped his head back and cursed once again crushing her against the wall. This got Marie close enough to the bars to grab them.

"Stop fighting me you little bitch, you'll like it," he hissed in her ear and pressed against her with all his weight. She whimpered and pulled her self in front of the bars, Jack followed not noticing Logan hovering over them. He took Marie's legs and tried to get her shorts off again when Logan brought his arms through the bars as far as he could and wrapped the handcuffs around Jack's neck. He lifted him in the air and slammed him against the bars the handcuffs digging into his neck. Marie pulled her shorts up and crawled away crying and holding her side tightly.

Jack choked and became red as the handcuffs got tighter around his neck. He struggled against them and Logan unleashed his bone claws. He stabbed Jack with them in his back several times causing the man to cry out in pain. He turned around to face him as his back bleed severely.

Without a word Logan looked him straight in the eyes like a mad animal and Jack wet himself. Logan growled and stabbed the man in the chest. He stabbed him repeatedly and Jack hollered in pain, blood and spit everywhere.

Logan noticed Marie huddled in the corner holding herself with her knees to her chest and her hair covering her face. She was crying and muttering the words

'Stop it' over and over again. Blood gushed from her wound. Logan slit Jack's throat with one claw and sent him falling to the ground, dead. Logan breathed heavily while arched over like an animal.

"_It will be alright, don't be sad." Gale said holding a baby duck in his hands. He had stepped on the small bird and broken its wing by mistake._

"_I'm sorry…." He cried and held the bird close to his heart. _

"_Don't die little baby, I didn't mean to," he sobbed as the duck quacked pathetically. _

_He stood up and looked around the wide field. He was six years old again but it was summer and he was all alone in this field with long grass and no lake. _

"_There's no one here to help us!" He cried and looked around but there was nothing but grass. The duck's quacks got weaker and weaker and he cradled it in his hands._

"_I'm sorry little baby, I am. I'll see if I can find some wrap from your little wing. Don't be sad, it'll be just fine." He wiped his tears away and keeping the bird close wondered around the field looking for something to wrap the duck's wing with. He walked for hours and hours but there was nothing._

_He looked down at the dead baby duck._

"_I can't find anything… there's nothing here, no one to help." He waited for the duck to quack but it didn't._

"_Are you sleeping?" He poked the duck but it didn't move. _

"_I'll sing you a lullaby, one I know well." He said and sat down in the grass. He rocked the baby duck and sung to him. It was a low sad lullaby and he sung until the sun came down._

_Suddenly the duck began to flicker, like a bad reception on a television. Gale looked all around him and the field began to flicker as well, cutting in and out. Soon he was surrounding by gray metal walls._

"Marie! _Marie_!" Logan gripped the cell bars tightly as he called out to her. She was huddled in a fetal position blood oozing from her side as she took deep breaths.

"Can you come towards me? Marie?"

Marie continued to sob ignoring Logan.

"Momma…" She muttered in between precious gasps of air.

Logan turned towards the front of his cell and began slamming against the bars.

"Someone help, Stryker I'll **kill** you!" Logan yelled trying to get someone's attention. They couldn't let a valuable test subject go to waste, right? They would fix her up and then Logan would get them out of this hell… somehow.

"L-Logan?" Marie managed to sit up and lean her back against the wall. Logan quickly made his way towards the side of her cell.

"Hey," He said trying to sound calm but the look on his face told another story. He looked horrified.

"It hurts to breath…" She looked down at her wound examining it.

"How deep is it?"

"Ah…Ah don't know…" She bit her lip in pain as she shifted herself into a more comfortable position. Unfortunately it made her wound bleed more. The blood oozed down her pale skin.

"Oh shit, listen to me Marie try to crawl over here we need to get that collar off of you."

Marie did as he said and slowly inched her way over to his cell.

"Ah don't wanna get close to him," She said referring to Jack's lifeless body.

"C'mon kid we have to get you better, ignore him."

Marie looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"I don't want you bleeding out on me darlin' we have to get out of here together," Logan said trying to comfort her.

Marie continued crawling towards Logan, every inch she moved she lost more blood and became lightheaded.

"Shit Marie hurry," Logan reached his hand out to her.

She shuddered making her way past Jack's body and collapsed against the bars of Logan's cell.

"Marie?" His voice was high in worry.

"Ah'm…. alright but… how?" She asked as he started clawing at the collar around her neck.

"When you touch another mutant you absorb their strength right?"

"Yes…"

"When we get this off touch me and take my powers to heal your self."

Logan struggled to get the collar off of her but it was harder than he had imagined.

"Ah don't want to hurt you," Marie said her body became completely limp.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Logan muttered. He jabbed one bone claw into the device and it finally gave out, wires went everywhere. Without saying anything Logan grabbed Marie's shoulders and turned her to face him he reached his hands out to touch her but her eyes got wide in fear and with what strength she had left backed away from him.

"Fuck Marie let me help you," He reached farther through the bars and grabbed her shoulder pulling her back to him. She shook her head and he placed his hands on her cheeks and her skin began to drain his life.

After a minute his eyes rolled back in his head but his hands stayed in place.

"Logan let go!" Marie screamed, she watched amazed and in terror as her wound healed and her strength returned. She grabbed his hands and took them off of her and he collapsed onto the floor.

"Logan!" She reached through the bars trying to get a hold of him but she was too far away.

"Oh God no…." she began to tremble. Logan's memories began to invade her mind. She grasped her head and rolled around in horror as images played themselves over and over again in her head. The clearer images were the ones of Logan being experimented on and Marie began to sob.

"No, no, no _STOP_!!" She screeched and started scratching at the walls as if she had his claws. She began to calm a bit as other memories showed themselves and she tried to stand back up. These memories were a blur as she saw Logan exploring Japan and living in a cozy home with a woman. She saw him teaching her karate on a bamboo floor, the woman wore a beautiful red kimono.

"What in the hell is going on in here?" Stryker said as he and a guardsman approached.

Logan's memories vanished and Marie shuddered as the two men came into view.

Stryker noticed Jack dead in a puddle of his own blood and piss and Logan lying on the floor gasping for air he locked eyes with Marie.

He looked her over and his eyes squinted when he saw her shirtless and covered in blood but no wound. He saw the electric gadget in pieces on the floor and quickly understood what was going on.

"Joseph take Jack and place him in room 409," Stryker commanded. Jack's memory inside Marie roused and she saw his memories of room 409 and her stomach turned. Through his memory she saw body parts and insides being tampered with and reused. Her head was pounding with thoughts that didn't belong to her.

The guard, Joseph, kept his eye on Marie as he picked up Jack's body and dragged him out of the cell leaving a trail of blood behind them. Stryker turned his attention to Logan.

"Wolverine what did I tell you about minding your own business?" Stryker said looking down at Logan in between the cell bars.

"I'll kill you…." Logan mumbled as he slowly regained consciousness.

"Logan you're okay!" Marie said happily despite the dim situation.

"Glad to see… you are too… kid," Logan said pushing himself up with his elbows.

"Seems you've made a new friend," Stryker remarked.

Logan snarled at him.

"You didn't like what Jack did, did you?" Stryker said changing his voice and talking to Logan as if he were a baby. Logan stepped up against the bars and Stryker backed up.

"I'll make you regret ever bein' born," He hissed.

Stryker walked over towards Marie's cell with a wicked grin on his lips.

"Have you experienced number 001's mutation yet?" Stryker asked her.

"Wha…what?"

"The subject who's life you took?" Stryker's grin widened even more.

"Screw you…" Marie growled and surprised herself. She had picked up one of Logan's traits.

"I guess you haven't; we should try it out and see what happens."

"What'd you do to me?" She backed herself up against the wall wishing she could be farther away from him. He pulled out a pistol from his jacket pocket and pointed it at her. Logan growled and Marie gasped.

"I'm going to place you in Wolverine's cell and I want you to do as I say, okay girlie?" Stryker said keeping the gun steady.

Marie looked over towards Logan but he looked just as confused as she.

"Come now Rogue do as I say if you want to keep that pretty head of yours intact," He threatened and opened the door to her cell.

She tried to think of any possible way to escape but had a feeling he wasn't kidding about shooting her. The last thing she wanted was her body ending up in room 409 so she did as he commanded.

She shuffled past him wincing almost expecting him to hit her. As he was about to open Logan's cell door he spoke a few words of warning.

"Now Wolverine if you try anything I will shoot in her the back of the head without a thought so watch yourself."

Marie closed her eyes and held back tears as she entered Logan's cell. She could feel the end of Stryker's pistol burning into the back of her head. She stopped and waited for him to speak.

"I want you to get close to him," Stryker commanded. Marie walked over to Logan and while keeping her eyes on her feet she stopped about ten inches away from him.

"Closer!" Stryker's voice got loud in excitement. Now Marie locked eyes with Logan as she moved even closer to him. He stood there looking down at her with a powerless look on his face. Marie could feel his breath on her and the heat from his body she was so close. It was scary but comforting at the same time.

"Let him touch that powerful skin of yours" Stryker directed amused by what was in front of him.

Marie began to trembled and looked in Logan's eyes for guidance but he was just as hopeless as her. She took her hand and ran it along Logan's clothed chest. He sighed and was surprised by how he enjoyed her closeness even in a situation like this.

Marie was disgusted with herself for being aroused in a situation like this. Despite that she was so afraid her whole body was trembling she felt herself enjoying his breath on her neck. She enjoyed tracing her fingers along his shirt pressing against his chest. His body heat radiated off of him warming her skin. They both knew that if either one of them made a wrong move he would be on the floor again fighting for his life.

"Why are you doing this?" Logan shouted at Stryker.

"Just do as I say," Stryker replied keeping his eyes glued on them and his gun directed to towards the back of Marie's head.

Logan looked back down at Marie with concern. She tried her best to give him a smile and she shivered as the cold air wrapped itself around her nude torso.

She wrapped her arms around herself trying to keep warm. To Marie's surprise Logan took his shirt own shirt off and wrapped his arms around her using the shirt as to cover her while also acting as a barrier between them.

"Ah don't feel anything…" Marie whimpered.

"Concentrate on his hands, use your mind to make him touch you; you are stronger now," Stryker explained almost drooling at the mouth. Did his experiment work?

"Ah- ah don't want to hurt him—"

"Do as I say!"

"Please don't make me!" Marie began to cry.

"It will be alright darlin' do as he says," Logan said trying to comfort her.

Marie concentrated on Logan's hands and imagined them lifting into the air. She had her eyes closed the whole time but when Stryker began to laugh she quickly opened them to see what she had done. Sure enough Logan's hands were the air she had moved them with her mind. She gasped and lost concentration and his hands fell back down to his sides. Logan watched her in awe as she experienced this new mutation.

"This is marvelous! It worked!" Stryker was ecstatic.

"This is permanent my dear you will have this ability for the rest of your life you should thank me. You will become so powerful for me…"

"Ah don't understand…" Marie began to cry harder. Not only had she taken his life forever but his mutation as well? Forever?

"You're telekinetic," Stryker explained.

"Ah didn't want this!" Marie exclaimed.

"I want you to punish Wolverine for helping you; you could teach him a lesson. Don't kill him just take enough to make it hurt."

"No."

"Marie…" Logan whispered.

"I won't threaten to shoot you now that I can make better use of you, but I can make you wish that I had shot you if you don't do as I say."

"Do it Marie I'll recover just like I did a minute ago. It's not worth it _trust_ me," Logan tried to reason with her.

Marie had another idea now that she has this new power. She thought she'd use it for her own benefit. She concentrated on lifting the pistol from Stryker's hands. The gun began to shake but Stryker just laughed as her mind wasn't strong enough to release if from his grasp.

She cursed and turned around to face Stryker knowing he would do something rash for trying to go against him.

"Joseph get back here," Stryker spoke into his radio.


	6. Logan’s Hope

Lost & Found

Chapter six – Logan's Hope

Marie kept her eyes on Stryker as he grinned with achievement and Logan kept his on the floor in shame. Logan felt hopeless and ashamed for not knowing how to help Marie. He was frightened for her and he couldn't even imagine what Stryker had in mind now. Having her absorb Gale was only the beginning, now that Stryker knew what she was capable of doing he wouldn't back down. Logan shuttered at the thought.

What could he possibly do now without getting her killed? He knew he had to wait for the right moment but it was torture watching this beautiful girl before him shake in fear. It broke his heart knowing that someone as innocent as her would have to go through the same torment as him, whom in his eyes, deserved this somehow.

He had done some horrible things in his life after marrying Stryker's adoptive daughter. Blinded by his love for her he found himself in distasteful positions, just as bad as Stryker in some cases. But Marie, she was innocent for all he knew she didn't deserve this. She was pure with a clean slate unlike him….

How he wanted so badly to pick her up in his arms and hold her so tight that she became part of him. He wanted to hold her close to his chest so she could hear his heart beat and keep her there. Maybe some of her innocence would rub off on him.

He wasn't completely sure why he felt this way, perhaps it was because he was lonely and she was, in some twisted way, of comfort to him down in his gloomy cell. Was it because his pity was no longer wasted on himself but her instead making him feel not as hopeless and more confident? Or was it because they were bonded together by this place, two unfortunate paths brought together? Or maybe this girl had brewed some unexpected, buried, feelings inside him to the surface?

It was a bit of all, but mostly a chance to reclaim himself. He wanted her to know that he wasn't all bad despite what he'd done, even though she knew nothing of his past he felt like he should prove to her that he could be a decent person. Saving her, even if it costs his own life he could at least die knowing he did something good for a change.

He never felt this way until she came and somehow she opened his eyes. He had no idea how she had done this and why he felt this way towards her but it grew stronger over the days they had been confined together. However this happening gave him hope and cause to escape again. He had given up on himself and was ready to rot in this cell until she arrived and sparked life back into him. How long had it been since he last had hope? He almost forgot what it meant.

When they were put in situations like this it made his thoughts worse and occupied his mind completely. She was a glimpse of hope for him now so to watch her tormented was heartbreaking. Unfortunately it would take a while before he could prove himself to Marie, Stryker, and the people who had died at his hands… But what could he do now with Stryker's pretty little pistol pointed at her head? He could do nothing but wait it out a little longer….

When Joseph appeared he was holding another collar like the one shattered on the floor of Marie's cell. Stryker watched as Joseph entered the cell Marie and Logan were in and he approached Marie with the intention of clamping the collar onto her neck. As he got closer Marie felt a painful pounding inside her head. It was as if someone was inside her skull banging on it to get out. She cringed and Joseph jumped a bit letting his guard down, Stryker kept his eye on Logan.

Joseph took a deep breath and reached out towards Marie's neck. The banging became louder and her head hurt horribly. Without her body's consent she lashed out at him as if someone was controlling her. Her mind was going haywire from all the stress and she was at the brink of having a mental breakdown. She began to take long harsh breaths and panicked looking around the room as if she was walking in circles. Gale was very much alive in her head and he wanted to take control of her unstable mind but it scared her too badly to give it to him. She fought with him while struggling to keep to her feet.

"STOP!" She screamed at the boy inside her subconscious.

Joseph then reached out for her neck and she struck him and he backed away.

Stryker lifted the gun back towards Marie. Her eyes got wide with fear and she looked up and down his face for some kind of reaction; somewhat like a deer in headlights.

"Don't!" Logan cried out.

"Ah didn't mean to--" Marie held up her hands in protest as Stryker titled the gun slightly and pulled the trigger.

Marie shut her eyes and when the bullet hit flesh it wasn't her yelp of pain like expected but Logan's. She whipped around and gasped as the skin and muscle of Logan's shoulder rejected the bullet and pushed it out hitting the floor with a clank.

"Lo---" Marie was cut off when Joseph came up from behind her and quickly attached the collar around her neck. He grabbed her wrist and held it behind her back and wrapped his other arm across her throat trapping her in his grasp. He dragged her out of the cell as she kicked at screamed at him.

"Don't hurt her..." Logan reached his hand out towards her while pressing the other one tightly against his wound.

"You've got a soft spot for women Wolverine. The same soft spot you had for my daughter," Stryker said and left the cage following Marie's pitiful cries down the narrow walkway.

Logan growled angrily hitting his fist hard against the concrete floor. An unbearable feeling of hopeless overcame him.

* * *

Marie was taken into an empty dark room with only a steel table and chair. Joseph had tossed her in there and left immediately locking the door behind him. Once her eyesight adjusted to the room she noticed a white t-shirt in her size folded and placed on the chair. She quickly put it on and huddled in the corner of the room. She noticed a round black camera above the door watching the whole room.

One of Gale's memories came to mind of him in the same position as her looking into the camera. In the memory he also kept an eye on the small round holes in the ceiling, he seemed scared of them. There were thousands of them all over the ceiling. She shuttered and shook her head trying to rid his thoughts.

She began to calm down and fell into a daze for a long while which seemed to have driven Gale's mind away into the back of her own. She had no idea what time it was but she assumed an hour had passed when the loud clank of the lock on the door snapped her back into reality. Joseph slowly entered the room with a bottle of water and kneeled down in front of her. She stared at him as he held the water out to her.

"It's safe you should drink it," He spoke holding it closer to her. She looked him over and then took it from him and brought it to her lips. Before drinking it she looked at him again and then drank almost the whole bottle. The water felt good in her dry mouth and down her swollen throat.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"Nineteen..." She answered automatically.

"You're so young," he sighed and ran his hand through his long brown hair.

"How old was Gale?" Marie asked. The question had just seemed to pop out of her mouth without her even thinking of it.

Joseph's facial expression began to sadden at the mention of Gale's name.

"Gale was six years old when he arrived."

"How come you don't call him by a number like Stryker does?" She surprised herself by these demanding questions but couldn't stop herself from asking. She needed to know about this identity inside her.

"I prefer to call people by their names."

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Marie sneered.

Joseph got back to his feet and headed towards the door.

"I'd rather not talk to you about this," He said and left. Not long after he left Marie began to hear an odd hissing sound and noticed a slightly gray colored smoke coming from the tiny holes in the ceiling. She jumped to her feet and began hitting the walls screaming for someone to get her out. She screamed and slammed her body against the door as the smoke started to fill the room. She became lightheaded and eventually collapsed to the floor. Now she knew why Gale had been afraid of the holes in the ceiling, she should have known.

_"Come now Gale this session is over for today," the guard, Joseph, spoke into a speaker. Gale, who was still young in this memory, was inside a glass room surrounded by a projection of a field. He had on an odd pair of glasses and several wires and tubes were connected to him._

_Joseph and several doctors stood on the other side of the glass in what looked like a control room. A female doctor opened the door to the glass room and took Gale by the hand but quickly snatched it away._

_"He's freezing cold!" The woman said taken by surprise. _

_"Move I'll take him to his room," Joseph said carefully removing the tubes and wires from the boy. _

_"You alright?" He asked as he removed the last wire._

_"Why am I here?" Gale asked seeming confused and Joseph just shook his head and lifted the boy in his arms._

The next thing that appeared in Marie's mind was Gale lying on a cot scratching at the vein on his arm. He was older now, skinny with bruises and looked like the way he did the day Marie took his life. He lay on the cot picking at his skin until it was raw. He seemed to be concentrating on something and every once there would be flashes of green, the tan green of field grass.

Marie woke with her own skin hurting after being inside Gale's subconscious. She blinked a couple times and as her vision returned she found herself strapped to a chair. She had a piece of cotton taped to the crease on the inside of her arm someone had taken her blood. She rocked back and forth trying to break free of the leather restraints holding her to the chair. A guard she hadn't seen before walked into the room grasping a long metal poker with a large wet ball of cotton on the end of it. She began to breathe harder and looked around her and noticed several claps connected to wires coming from what looked like a circuit box not far from her chair.

* * *

Logan snarled at Stryker as the six guardsmen tightened the last steel strap across his ankle. They had drug him out of his cell by thick metal chains and brought him into a wide stone room with enough medical supplies to run a hospital with. They strapped him to a metal cot with thick steel restraints across his chest, feet, hands, and neck.

"We're going to try some things and I figured I'd give you something to watch to keep you occupied, this might take awhile," Stryker said rolling over a small TV next to Logan's side. Logan's eyes got wide with fear and his mouth fell open as he saw Marie on the screen. She was strapped to a chair and looked very frightened. Stryker smirked enjoying the look of horror in Logan's eyes.

"What are you going to do with her? She's no use to you if you kill her!" Logan growled but Stryker ignored him and proceeded over to a table with several large needles out on display. A female doctor explained what was in several of the needles and Stryker pointed to one and the woman took it and made her way to Logan's side. She flicked the tip of the needle and stuck it in his arm first and then stuck him in the thigh. Logan looked her up and down but she kept her eyes low.

"This should lower his healing acceleration by two minutes letting us insert without the skin healing over our equipment," The woman explained to no one in particular but Logan noticed a man scribbling down every word she said in a notebook. This was obviously some twisted experiment.

"What the fuck are you planning?" Logan snarled as the woman drew several purple dots all over his body, on his head, shoulders, chest, legs, and feet. His breathing picked up and he started to panic as the woman grabbed a scalpel and cut into his skin where the purple dot was on his foot. He winched in pain and struggled against his restraints. The woman continued what she was doing confident that the restraints would hold him.

"The anesthetic should work in about twenty minutes," She spoke as she cut each purple dot on his body and when she brought the knife to the mark on the side of his temple Stryker laughed.

"Pretty close to that soft spot aye?"

"You bastard!" He glared at Stryker and then he heard a scream from the TV beside him. He turned around and watched; his eyes wide with terror and sympathy for Marie.

The man with metal poker brought in a TV on a small rolling table and placed it on the wall across from Marie and turned it on. On the screen was Logan confined to a metal slab.

"L-Logan? What are they doin' to him?" She gasped and watched horrified as a woman carved into Logan's skin.

"No you have to stop them!" She screamed to the man but he only grinned as he started attaching metal claps to Marie's shoulders, arms, and legs.

"Why are you doing this??" Tears streamed down her face. The man flicked a switch on the circuit box on the wall and she heard a loud spark and jumped in her seat. He held the wet cotton close to her skin.

"This is for Jack," He said and pushed the cotton against her skin electrocuting her. She screamed and shook in her chair shaking her head back and forth in excruciating pain. She bit her lip hard until the cut from Jack's knife split open and she dug her fingers into the chair.

"You bastard!" Logan spat at Stryker as he watched Marie being tortured on the screen in front of him. The woman had made her incisions and was now placing long thin tubing into his skin and connecting them to veins. He had no idea what the other end of the tubes was attached to. It felt awful like something burrowing into his skin and blowing air into his insides. He wanted to rip it out and itch the cuts so badly but his hands weren't moving anywhere with the metal straps hooked to them.

Logan would look back and forth at the screen and then at the woman tempering with his body. Watching Marie, his hope, being treated like hurt more than the scalpels and tubes…. His heart sank and he bubbled with raw emotion.

"I'll kill you Stryker!" Logan cursed at him with every once of hatred inside him.

"I'll rip you to shreds! FUCK!" he screamed panicking as Marie took another dose of electricity.

"Get her out of there!" He panicked.

"I'll make you suffer far worse than this you hear me Stryker?" He yelled through his teeth.

"I doubt that..." Stryker replied amused with the show before him.

Logan's eyes lower and his pupils dilated covering the hazel of his eye with black. He snarled like a wild animal and he let out a low demented growl causing the doctor to actually look him in the eyes. She blinked a few times and shakily proceeded.

Before she could get the tube to his chest the incision she had made had already healed so she grabbed the scalpel again and tore the sensitive skin back open causing Logan to curse and yell at her. She just went along with her work trying to ignore him and inserted the tubing deep inside his skin. She slid the tips of her fingers into his body and pushed the tubing hard enough to pierce the tissue. She continued this for a while almost always going back and reopening the wounds. Then she shot him up with another drug and walked over towards a strange machine that made an odd gurgling sound. She looked over at Stryker, who had a serious look on his face, and he nodded at her. She clipped several switches and Logan hollered and fought at his restraints as some type of sliver liquid came rushing through the tubes connected to his body. His screams became growls and howls and he rocked his body back and forth against the table.

He felt dizzy and incredibly nausea as the liquid coursed through his veins filling his body. After a minute of the liquid reaching him one of the tubes in his arms ripped loose and the sliver liquid and his blood sprayed everywhere. The doctor cut the switch off from the machine and ran to his side quickly stitching up her mistake and began disconnecting the tubing from his body. He snarled at her showing his teeth and her hands began to shake as she worked. A few more tubes came loose causing blood to spurt everywhere while the tubes lashed back and forth. The liquid became a solid as it was exposed to the air hitting the floor with loud clanks.

* * *

"P...please..." Marie begged as she watched what was happening to Logan. Her body was covered with sweat and her skin was raw where the man had placed the wet cotton swab. He watched her as her body went limp the straps around her shoulders kept her from falling over. She couldn't take her eyes off the screen it looked as if Logan was watching her and she just couldn't take her eyes off his.

"Plea...s...ee..." She begged repeatedly while taking in slow breaths.

"Please aye?" The man walked back over to her but she didn't pay any mind as she lifted the cotton against her chest, over her heart.

Shocks traveled through her body and she jolted upwards and jerked back and fourth in the chair, the metal restraints cutting into her skin. She dug her fingers into the chair so roughly they began to bleed, the tips of them raw and pink. When the man backed away her body swung forward bringing her head to her knees like she was hunched over. She began to hear Gale's voice and felt him trying to take over her body again.

_"Let me..."_ He spoke to her in a child's voice.

She took one more look at the TV screen through her soaked hair and then closed her eyes and everything went black.


	7. Mind Game

Lost & Found

Chapter Seven – Mind Game

The television that was placed in front of Marie turned to static so the guard turned it off assuming his assignment from Stryker was over. He turned a few switches off on the power supply box and nudged Marie with the metal prod to see if she was awake. She stayed hunched over and didn't move so he assumed she was unconscious and began unhooking the cuffs around her torn ankles and wrists.

As he took off the last clamp around her shoulder she lifted her head and his eyes met hers. Only the bright blue, almost white, orbs did not belong to her but Gale. Marie had shut down her mind under the pressure and stress of the situation and let the boy whom she had consumed consume her. She let him take over her body in hope that she wouldn't have to deal with the pain outside. So she wouldn't have to watch Logan, her cell mate, a man she had grown found of, be tortured before her very own eyes. She couldn't and didn't want to handle it anymore so she let him take control...not knowing what the outcome would be.

The man froze in place as she stared back at him, it seemed like hours had passed as he found himself paralyzed by her gaze, but it had only been a second. And during that second Marie, or Gale controlling Marie's body, reached out and wrapped her hands firmly around his neck and squeezed as hard as she could. The man choked and scratched at Marie's wrist trying to break her grip but no matter how many times he scratched, even drew blood, her hands didn't even flitch. She looked him directly in the eyes and adjusted her hands in a quick movement towards the left and snapped his neck.

While Gale had control of Marie's body Marie found herself freezing cold and surrounded by pitch black somewhere inside her subconscious. Her hands were covered in blood and no matter how many times she tried to wipe them off on her shirt they felt wet and sticky. She shivered and began to panic regretting letting Gale take over.

"Please ah don't want this anymore, ah...ah'm scared..." She whimpered rubbing her hands against her body in attempt to get warm.

_"They should have just let me drown, frozen at the bottom of the lake! I could have died…Why did they have to take me here!? I would have rather frozen to death…WHY COULDN'T I HAVE DIED THEN!?"_

Gale's pained voice came echoing all around her and she began to get colder and colder.

"Ah-ah don't know what to do... please get me out of here...ah don't want to be here anymore..." Marie cried and shut her eyes tight. Memories flooded her mind of Gale as a little boy falling into an icy lake. She tried not to cry after re-experiencing these memories because the tears hurt so badly on her cold cheeks, but she couldn't stop. She was overwhelmed with despair, Gale's feelings and thoughts rushed through her as if she had just absorbed him. After falling into the lake Gale was taken to the hospital barely alive. Stryker and his men had stolen the dying boy from the hospital and did enough research and experiments to keep him alive to use as a test subject. At the time Gale was too young to have developed his mutation so they discovered how to manually bring it out in him. Gale showed her this in visions that she could no longer bare to watch.

"Why are you showin' me this?" Marie yelled out into the darkness. The images stopped but she still remained alone and freezing. She kept her eyes shut and begged to no one in particular to let her have her body back.

When she opened her eyes the sight before her made her stomach turn and she opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. Her hands were around the guard's neck, a mixture of his and her blood covered her hands all the way up to her elbows. The man's neck was clearly broken and there were deep scratches all over his face, done by her hands. She managed to get the strength back in her legs to stand but as the guard's body slid from her lap and onto the floor. Joseph grabbed her arms and lifted her up. Her body was completely limp from shock as Joseph drug her out of the room and all she could do was see the mess she had left behind.

As Joseph dragged her down the long hallways, no doubtfully back to her cell, she began to hear a squeaking sound. It got louder and closer and Joseph stopped. The squeaking stopped too. Marie looked up and saw the back of a metal slab that stood upright attached to a cart with wheels.

"It didn't work the tubes came loose... it was a mess," The guard who was pushing the metal slab spoke to Joseph. Joseph didn't respond and Marie kept her eyes on the back of the slab but she could feel the guard staring at her.

"What the hell happened with her?" The guard asked observing her bloodied arms.

"Logan?" Marie spoke to the slab, her voice a raspy whisper.

"Keep moving before Stryker catches you lacking off," Joseph finally spoke and began to move.

"Logan!?" Marie cried still unable to see what was on the other side of the slab.

"Marie..." Sure enough it was Logan.

Joseph continued forward, slowly, letting Marie catch a glimpse of Logan. He was up right and strapped to the metal slab, a sorrowful expression on his face that would make even the happiest person cry if they saw it.

"Logan!"

"Marie!" All they could do was cry out each other's names. Marie tried to break loose of Joseph's grip but in her current state she was no match, he just held her closer to him and kept walking. There was look of desperation on both of their faces as they were carried past each other.

Marie continued to call out his name as she was dragged away, her voice echoing throughout the hall. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as she kept calling for him. She heard him yell out to her one last time before the door was closed behind her and she was taken into another endless hallway.

Joseph said nothing to her and she nothing to him as he dragged her into her cell. He closed the bars and went around the corner and came back with a bucket. He held the bucket over her and cold water came spilling down saturating her. She shivered and gave hima dirty look he locked the bars behind him and disappeared. She was grateful to be somewhat clean but now she was freezing cold. She slumped over against the wall and stared into Logan's cell. The cell had a different feel to it without Logan there. She had never in her life felt as lonely as she did now. She stared into his cell she noticed the bars that were connecting her cell and his were bent outward leaving a gap just barely large enough for her slip through. They must have bent against his weight when he was trying to save her from Jake. She shuttered remembering the event.

She squeezed her way into Logan's cell and took in his scent, a masculine aroma that reminded her of the outdoors and pine needles. She imagined herself lying nude in a cozy bed next him, basking in his scent. She imagined how nice it would be to spend time with him outside this awful place. She could just see them together hiking through the woods, squeezed into the same hammock rocking back and forth in the shade, him catching fish with his claws and her cooking for them over the open fire when it got dark outside. She laughed a bit feeling silly for imagining such fairy tale things. She wanted to know so much more about him, more than what the memories in her head showed her. _The dreadful memories_ she thought and huddled up in the corner she first saw him in when she arrived. She caught a glimpse of something carved into the wall and traced her fingers over it.

There was her name... carved by claws made of bone...

She began to tremble and sobbed until her eyes became sore and she eventually passed out from exhaustion. She had nightmare after nightmare, visions of Logan being experimented on, Gale killing off the scientists who revived him one by one and then killing her after he was done. She kept seeing the guard she had strangled laying in a pool of blood with his neck bent sideways, a bone protruding out. She had nightmares of being abandoned in the middle of nowhere with no one around.

She would wake up gasping in deep breaths of air and covered in sweat but shivering. She'd scream and cry and punch the walls looking for some kind of relief. She'd mourn for Logan whom had worse nightmares than this every night. She tried to stay strong and scolded herself for handling them so badly. She wanted to be tough like Logan. She started to calm down when she thought of him waking up in the middle of the night and prowling around the cell watching her pretend to sleep. He could never go back to sleep so he would just sit there leaning against the wall and watch her fall asleep.

But tonight was different; she was all by herself with no one to watch over her.

* * *

Blood and copper was what he had smelled when Joseph had dragged her past him in the hallway. He didn't want to believe it was her but he heard her voice, and his heart sunk. Joseph carried her past him, all bloodied and beaten, and his heart skipped a few beats. She cried out his name over and _over_ down the hallway and his heart broke…

Not once in his life had he ever felt so helpless, desperate, and hurt. This ache that he felt his in chest hurt far worse than what Stryker and his men had even done to him. The wounds on his skin would heal, but what he felt inside, what hurt him the most, would never fix its self.

The guard rolled Logan into a small room barely big enough for him and maybe two other people. The ceilings were high and directly above him there was a glass examination window. He checked to make sure the harnesses were tightened and left locking the door behind him. Logan waited there under the harsh florescent lights until he heard latches of the door being to unlock, he was getting plenty of attention tonight.

A familiar and unwanted face entered the room and stared him down.

"Mariko..." he hissed.

"Are you not happy to see me? _Hubby_," the Asian woman spoke. She walked right up to him, barely touching his shoulder.

"Don't call me that, what the hell do you want from me? Haven't you taken enough already?" Logan glared at her but she didn't seem fazed by it.

"You know, it's a sad thing that this had to happen to you. I was actually in love with you, such a pity."

"Don't mess with me Mariko," he growled.

She circled the metal slab he was strapped to and put her hand in front of his face and took of the sliver wedding ring around her finger. She held it in front of him and examined it like she had never seen it before.

"I guess I'll just have Otou-san melt this down with the Adamantium they'll pump into you."

"Say what you came in here to say and get the hell outta my sight!" Logan was furious.

"You're still as pushy as ever... Hmmm... I just wanted to say goodbye; I'm leaving for Japan in the morning before your operation... It's a drag I won't be able to stick around and watch what I helped create. Will you miss me Lo-Chan?" She called him by her nickname for him.

"Get _OUT_!" Logan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger towards his ex wife.

"I'm glad I got to know you Weapon X, sayonara," She said and gave him a smile and opened the door to leave. Logan glared at her back as she left and when she did he got dizzy with overwhelming emotions. Hopelessness, fear, sorrow, humiliation, every emotion there was to feel he was feeling all at once.

He hollered at the tall ceiling.


	8. The Wild Wolverine

Lost & Found

Chapter Eight – The Wild Wolverine

He didn't remember falling asleep but when he woke up he was in the same small room, the lights stung his eyes as he opened them. His body was swore all over, a feeling he wasn't used to. Normally his body would be healed by the next day but not in this case. They had really done a number on him the night before. He grunted and looked around; the observation room was full of people in white lab coats. He felt like he was still dreaming and then the memories of Marie came rushing to him.

"Where is she!?" He hollered.

The 'white coats' as he liked to call them stared at him examining every move he made. He thrashed his body around as much as the restraints would allow him.

"Stryker, where is she??" He growled glaring at the glass window.

He watched as the white coats argued with each other and pointed at him, there was no sign of Stryker from what he could see. More than likely they were arguing over the bad outcome from last night.

The doors unlocked and in came the same guard that had placed him in there the night before. Without a word the guard rolled him out of the room and back into the hallway where he had encountered Marie.

Memories of her bloodied, bruised, and desperately calling his name came as flashes. He groaned and closed his eyes trying to stop the memories. He knew he had to get to her and began rocking his body back and fourth with all his might. The metal slab began to wavier and the guard walked faster but it just made it wobble more. The slab came crashing down and the impact sent pain throughout Logan's body as it hit the floor.

He guard rolled his eyes and bent down to try and lift it back up. He couldn't manage to lift it from the side; he would have to grab a hold from the front, placing himself directly in front of Logan. He was nervous but figured Logan would be too restrained to do anything. He gulped and took his chances and leaned over Logan grabbing the sides of the slab. Beads of sweat ran down his face as he tried to lift the heavy slab. He was about to radio for help when Logan bent forward with all his might and grabbed a hold of the man's jacket collar with his teeth. Logan held on tight and pushed the guard forward by his collar. The man struggled against him and the fabric started to tear when Logan quickly moved and bit down onto the man's neck. His teeth dug into the man's flesh as he bit down as hard as he could. Blood drizzled down into Logan's mouth which made him nauseas but he knew what he had to do. The man completely froze and begged Logan not to kill him.

"Let me go and I'll spare you," Logan mumbled the best he could while still biting down on the man's neck.

"W-what?" The guard asked, literally shaking in his boots.

"Let me go!" Logan grunted.

"O-okay I will, just…don't kill me please. I have a family," The man begged.

It disgusted Logan knowing that a man like this had a family. But then he remembered the cruel things he had done himself as his wife waited for him back at home. Logan let go of the man and spit the blood out of his mouth.

"If you try anything I'll hunt down your family and kill them myself," he hissed at the guard. The guard nodded and shakily unlocked the restraints. Logan quickly grabbed the man.

"No,no,no!" The man cried as Logan held him down and hit the pressure point above his collar knocking him unconscious. He let the man hit the floor and unsheathed his bone claws. He almost doubled over it was so painful. Blood ran from his knuckles as the claws grew out. They were still bone but had patches of metal on them. He caught his breath and rushed down the hallway praying he was headed in the right direction.

* * *

Marie began to doze off; she spent the last night awake and tormented but couldn't stay awake any longer. She dreamt of Logan and his past once again, but this time it wasn't nightmares of experiments but before that.

_He was a solider and met a beautiful Asian woman in one of the villages he was patrolling. They flirted with each other and Logan promised he would return for her with his troops once the war was over. The memory skips to when Logan meets Stryker who claims he adopted the Asian woman and would hand her over to him for marriage if he worked for him. Logan agreed and he and the Asian woman wed but it was short lived. During the warm lazy days she would cook for him and he would practice martial arts teasing her with his handsome body as he stretched and meditated. These memories seemed to be clearer than the others in Marie's dream. At night he would work for Stryker, delivering large crates full of weapons to warehouses, but mostly he was called for hits. He would kill the people who belonged to the names Stryker gave off without thinking twice about it. As long as he had his beautiful wife at home waiting for him he would kill anyone for Stryker. Only later would he feel regret. One night after returning home from a hit Logan found his wife dead on the floor of the kitchen. It seemed as if someone had poisoned her, her body cold and face blue. He destroyed the kitchen in anger and sobbed over his new wife. When he informed Stryker of his adoptive daughter's death he seemed quick to accuse a culprit. Stryker flew Logan to Canada claiming the man who had killed his wife worked in an underground laboratory. Struck with grief and seeking revenge he left Japan and headed towards Canada. There he met Stryker….and his wife. He stood in shock as his wife stood alive next to Stryker, who was grinning. _

"_Mariko?" Logan could barely speak. _

"_Logan…" She sauntered over towards him and embraced him. He looked over her shoulder at Stryker as Mariko stabbed him in the side with a tranquilizer._ As he blacked out Marie awoke from her dream.

Marie woke up in total shock by her dream. She felt even closer to Logan than before after experiencing this new batch of memories. She knew how he felt being betrayed by a loved one. Her own mother gave her up for adoption, and her adoptive mother sent her to be experimented on. She laid on the cold floor going over the dream in her head when she heard footsteps hurrying down the corridor. She crawled to the bars to get a closer look. She heard a man yell in pain and then a body hit the floor and she jumped up scurrying to the back of Logan's cell. She watched as Logan came running into her view, his mouth and clothes were stained with blood and his bone claws were out- dripping with blood.

He looked at her wide eyed and some what relieved.

"Logan!" Marie cried and ran to the bars. Even though he looked wild and was covered in blood she had never been so happy to see him.

"Are you okay??" She asked reached her arms out to him.

"We gotta go kid," he said panting. His heart sank when he saw how poorly she looked. Her skin was almost blue and her clothes were damp and stained with blood. She had bags under her eyes and a cracked lip. He walked over to the lock on her cell and attempted to pick it with his bone claw. They could both hear footsteps scurrying towards them. Logan attempted to smile at her through the bars.

Marie tried to look him in the eyes as he worked.

"Logan…I…love…" before she could finish her sentence a bullet ricochet off the prison walls and three more hit Logan in the back.

He grunted in pain but continued to pick the lock. Guards came running towards them with large guns in tow, Stryker was behind them.

"Wolverine!" Stryker called, sending shivers down Marie and Logan's backs.

The lock clicked and the bars squeaked open. Marie and Logan looked into each other eyes savoring the moment. Another bullet hit the wall

beside them.

"Go," Logan said sternly.

"But what about you? Ah can't leave you Logan," Marie said, tears forming in her eyes.

Two more bullets hit Logan in the back. He closed his eyes in pain and tried not to bite his tongue. Marie leaned up and grabbed his face bringing his lips to hers. She pressed hard against him and got a good taste before pulling away. Now there was blood on her mouth, but she didn't care. She never thought she'd feel another's lips again and even in this dire situation she was happy. Logan looked completely shocked, but didn't seem to be bothered by the pain as much.

"Ah'll find you…ah promise," Marie said as she grabbed onto the cell bars and pushed herself along the hallway. Their eyes stayed locked as she went and Logan shielded her from the bullets, taking several more in the back until he was grabbed by a guard.

Marie sobbed as she ran down the dark hallway. She tried to concentrate on Jack's memories to find a good place to hide until she could look for Logan. She stumbled down never ending hallways until she came across an unlocked door. She was relived to find no one inside, just filing cabinets and a desk covered with papers. She locked the door behind her and slid down to the floor catching her breath and taking in everything that had just happened. She ran her fingers across her lips and blushed a little. After resting for a minute she franticly searched the room for a weapon but all she could find was a metal lamp. She figured it was better than nothing and took the shade off and wrapped the dangling cord around the base. She unlocked the door and grabbed the handle. She took a deep breath and opened the door in her search for Logan.

* * *

Logan woke inside a glass coffin with numerous wires and tubes running through the glass and into his skin. He recognized them from the last experiment. He looked around him and noticed the white coats standing on a plat form above him eagerly waiting on whatever experiment Stryker was about to perform. He noticed Stryker off to the side yelling at a pair of guards and pointing in several directions.

He looked down at his body, he was completely nude and had purple markings on him exactly like the ones the woman had draw on him previously. He wondered how long he had been out and prayed that Marie was safe. He heard Stryker and the white coats mumbling and watched as Stryker pulled a lever and a woman handed out glasses of champagne to everyone in the room. Expect for him of course. The glass coffin began to fill with some kind of acidic liquid and once full they all watched as the silver liquid began coursing through Logan's body once again. He struggled but knew this time they would finish what they started.

* * *

Marie thought she was in a completely different building when she heard laughing coming from one of the rooms used for experiments. Based on Jack's memories there were three doors to this room, two side doors and a main entrance. She was just about at one of the side doors. She noticed a guard standing at the door peaking through the glass window inside the room. She tipped toed as quietly as she could behind him and when she was only a few inches away and about to strike with her metal lamp he turned around. Immediately she brought the lamp back behind her and swung it at him as hard as she could. It smashed into his face and he went tumbling down to the floor unconscious. She reached down and unhooked his gun from his belt. She kissed the metal lamp and placed it quietly on the ground. When she looked through the glass window her heart sunk.

There was Logan inside a glass box filled with liquid- they were injecting something into his body and above him stood numerous men and women in lab coats sipping on champagne and watching. Stryker was on the floor smiling at his work. Her stomach turned and rage over came her. She kicked open the door and began shooting at the audience in lab coats. She hit one person in the shoulder before the guards at the other two doors started shooting back at her. The people in the room scrabbled to the exits in panic and Stryker glared at her. She pulled back behind the door as bullets flew towards her. She hid behind the door and would shoot blind shots outside the now broken window.

She heard footsteps headed towards her and she panicked. There would be no way she could take on guards from both sides. She held her breath and then Joseph appeared. He walked towards her with a sad look on his face.

"I'll shoot back at the guards while you run inside, run in zig zags so it will be difficult for them to aim at you," He said kneeling down beside her. She looked at him in shook and he just nodded to her and aimed his guns at the guards across the room. Marie gave him one last look and darted out into the room and ran towards the glass box Logan was in. She zig zagged across the room as Joseph instructed and barely missed the bullets. Joseph was now outside of the door and in the room shooting at the other guards. Just as he took down one he was shoot in the shoulder but he continued to shoot back. By this time Stryker was exiting the room while on the radio calling for back up.

"Logan!" Marie called for him and pounded on the glass cage. He opened his eyes and watched her as she tried to break him free. He took one last look at her beautiful face before his mind went blank and the wild Wolverine completely took over him. He opened his dark eyes and snarled unleashing his fresh adamantine claws. Marie watched in horror as he drove his claws through the glass confinement almost cutting her in the process. She fell backwards with a thud.

"L-Logan?"

He looked down at her and literally howled at her like a wild animal. She shook her head and crawled backwards away from him. He stalked her as she inched away until she stopped when she rubbed up against Joseph's body. She looked down at him and up at side door where the other guard had been. They were ball dead and it was completely silent.

"Logan, it's me…Marie!" She reached out to him but he lashed at her and she pushed herself over Joseph's body and farther away from Logan.

"What did they do to you??"

Logan looked as if he was about to pounce on her when all of the sudden the entrance door flew open and a dozen guards came barging in with massive weapons. Logan turned and growled at them and they charged at him. Marie tried to stand to her feet but she couldn't, her legs felt like rubber. She continued to push herself backward. Logan took out several of the men, ripping them to pieces with his metal claws. Marie hid half way behind the side door as she watched in terror as Logan sliced and diced the group of men. The bodies piled up until the floor ran red with blood. She couldn't believe her eyes, what had they done to him? She didn't want to be afraid of him but her whole body shook in fear.

Once the last guard was down Logan, saturated in blood, turned and looked her straight in the eyes like she was prey. He was panting and his metal claws wanted her blood. "No…." Tears streamed down her face and managed to get to her feet and run.

She ran down the hall more scared than she has ever been as he thrashed behind her. She felt like a deer being chased by a ravenous lion. She would stumble and fall and get back up just in time to escape a slaw from his claws. His brood shoulders didn't do him much good in these narrow halls and she managed to get the upper hand.

Finally she reached an exit and went crashing into the snow outside. She gasped trying to catch her breath it was so cold. She could hardly move, and tried to crawl away in the snow. Her back was towards him and she could feel him breathing over her. He used the palms of his hands to grab her by the side and toss her over on her back.

"Logan!" She hollered. Her legs shook so hard her knees hit up against each other bruising the skin. He licked his lips and howled like a wolf.


	9. Rogue’s Arrival

Lost & Found

Chapter Nine – Rogue's Arrival

-24 hours later-

Scott Summers ran through damp woods and icy snow while avoiding fallen branches and mud holes that surrounded Alkali Lake. After hours of searching the woods he began to get frustrated and quickened his pace while cursing under his breath. He got deeper into the woods and he noticed less trees, most of them looked has if they had been cut down and many dead trunks lay about. He continued on for about another hour but still could not find what he was searching for. He stopped and spoke into his radio angrily.

"Storm, there are no mutants here! There aren't any laboratories, no scientist, nothing!" He yelled into the small speaker, "only a bunch of trees. I'm soaking wet and freezing out here I'm returning to the jet. What is your location?"

"We haven't found anything either... Perhaps the Professor got a false lead. I'm about two miles out," Storm's crackled voice over the radio.

"We'll try again tomorrow on the other side of the damn," Scott sighed, "see you in a second Storm."

Scott was about to head back the way he came when he heard a low whimper. Immediately his fingers went to the notch on the side of his glasses and he turned behind him. He heard the sound again and approached a large dead tree trunk. What he saw made his mouth drop and he released his grip from his glasses. There below him hidden beside the trunk in the snow was a half naked girl. She was huddled up and shivering as the cold rain hit her battered body. She was caked with mud and dried blood. Scott's heart beat quickened and he reached out to her.

"Don't touch me!" the girl screamed and backed away from him.

Her voice was raspy and she coughed up blood which shook her entire body. He took a deep breath to keep from panicking.

"I'm trying to help you," Scott protested pathetically afraid she would die right there in front of him.

She watched him carefully eyeing his every move. She struggled just to keep her eyes open to watch him. He noticed that her eyes were green with blue specks; they were beautiful despite that the rims of her eyes were pink from tears. He struggled with himself to find something to say.

"You can trust me I have a friend not far from here who can fix up your wounds," He pointed to her scratched and bruised knees.

She turned to look but instead of looking to her knees she looked to her side instead. That's when he noticed three claw-like gashes in her side. Her hands were shaking as she hovered them over the cuts almost as if she had just seen them for the first time. He bit his lip and wondered what could have left a mark like that on someone. Whatever it was it had hurt her badly and she didn't look like she would last much longer. He knew he had to get her out of here and quick.

"You won't last much longer out here without treatment," Scott held his hand back out.

The girl let out another whimper and traced her neck with her fingers. She was wearing a metal collar and she ran her fingers along it and then held her hand to take his. He looked straight into her eyes and watched her intensely incase she tried something drastic and helped her to her feet. She lost her footing and almost fell to the ground but Scott grabbed her while trying to be careful not to touch the gashes on her side.

"I'll carry you, just remember I'm here to help you not hurt you," Scott reassured her.

When she nodded with approval he picked her up and her body went limp in his arms. She must have been huddled behind that dead bark for at least 24 hours.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he stepped over a branch and tried to keep his own balance against the muddy ground.

"Logan…." She muttered resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes. A single tear fell and she whispered something before passing out.

Scott kept forward towards the jet.

She felt so heavy... Like something was lying on top of her weighing her down. She could feel artificial light beaming down on her but her eyelids would not open, they felt stuck to her. Her limbs felt numb and fuzzy, her fingers and toes tingling with the need to move. She tried to keep calm breathing in and out slowly at first, but then she began to feel pain with every breath she took. She tried to hold her breath to keep from feeling the pain but it only caused her to breathe in more and harder when she ran out of breath. With each inhale her body shuttered and she would let out a pathetic yelp, unsure if it was imagined or if it actually came out as sound. Her whole body was stricken with sharp pains; the worse pain was in her chest and her side. Her lungs felt as if they would burst and her side felt like it was being pressed against something hot and metal.

She began to panic and her eyes fluttered open. A blur of white flooded her sight and for a second she thought something was covering her eyes, but after a minute her vision came back to her. The strong smell of ammonia rushed through her nostrils with a vengeance and she leaned over to puke. It was a strange and hopeless feeling as she threw up what little was in her stomach her body trembling and her lungs burning. When she sat up she started to hyperventilate as she looked around the room she was in. Metal cots, tubes, wires, glass, fluids, she was still at Alkali Lake. Her escaping the lake and being rescued by a man in red shades, was it all a dream?

"Logan…." She muttered and immediately tears streamed down her face and she huddled up in ball on the metal cot she had been placed on. She noticed that she was in a hospital gown and shuttered at the though of one of Stryker's men changing her.

She began rubbing her legs and arms in an attempt to comfort herself when she brushed her hand against her side and felt the same sharp pain she had a minute ago. Her eyes got wide with the sudden realization and she pulled up her shirt to find three long cuts along her side. She stared at them for a while with a very serious look on her face. She kept her eyes on the three cuts and let her fingers roam across her body. As she looked at her wounds she thought back to how it had happened and seemed to have fallen into a daze, she traced her neck, arms, breasts, and thighs. Her hand began to tremble as it moved closer to her panties and a single tear fell from her eye. She sat there like that for a moment reminiscing until the familiar sound of a metal door being opened echoed throughout the room. She dropped her shirt and slid off the cot racing back and forth across the room looking for a way to escape. Her heart was beating so fast she felt like it would give out. She heard the footsteps get closer and she scrambled underneath the foot space of a desk knocking over glass vials and books off the desk. She closed her eyes and screamed as she sensed the person in front of her.

"Just leave me alone, why did you do that to him?!" She hollered at the top of her sore lungs and everything that had crashed onto the floor with her ungraceful attempt of escape lifted into the air and went flying towards the unknown presence in the room. She kept her eyes shut tight and when she heard grunts and sounds of glass breaking and large thuds she opened her eyes and realized what she had done.

Her hands went straight to her throat…. Her collar was gone. She looked up and saw the intruder brushing off paper clips from his fury blue hair. She looked up at him in awe, he wore a lab coat and glasses but he was covered in blue fur, it reminded Marie of a giant teddy bear. Everything that she had thrown at him with her telekinesis apparently was blocked because he stood tall and unharmed. He looked straight at her with a confused look on his face. For some unknown reason Marie didn't feel threatened by him and she hoped that maybe she wasn't really at Alkali Lake after all.

"I certainly didn't know you could do that!" The fuzzy blue thing spoke with a sophisticated accent. He kneeled down to her level and held his hand out; it was covered with a large plastic glove.

"Don't worry, I know about your skin…unlike the telekinesis…" He kept his hand out to her but she turned her head and huddled closer to the corner.

"Where am ah?" She spoke shyly keeping her eyes shut.

"Why don't you come on out? You need medical attention…" He kept his hand out for her and she looked down trying to keep from eye contact.

"You are at Professor Xavier's School, a safe haven for mutants like yourself, you'll be safe here. It looks like your wound reopened," He pointed to one of the long cuts on her side.

Marie thought for a second, Raven had mention that name before but she really didn't know much about Xavier or his school. She decided to come out and put her hand in his and he gripped it carefully. She looked up into his eyes this time, her piercing green eyes with blue specks that didn't belong to her locked with his royal blue. He couldn't seem to take his eyes from hers; it was like he had fallen into a trance as he kneeled down before her. She gave him an odd look expecting him to let her up but he seemed lost in thought for a second so she took her eyes off his looking bashfully to the ground.

"I erm… I'm sorry," He spoke politely and stood up so she could come out from underneath the table. She inched back and held her arms across her chest still frightened of her surroundings.

"My name Dr. McCoy but you can call me Hank. It is a pleasure to meet you and I am glad Scott found you when he did."

A door from around the corner opened and Marie flinched and backed up against the desk. The man with the red sunglasses came in looking directly at her.

"Well speak of the devil, this is Scott Summers he was the one who found you in the snow outside the damn," Hank spoke.

"Are you alright?" Scott walked closer to her and she saw her own reflection in his glasses. She noticed bite marks on her neck and she whimpered looking away from Scott.

"What is it? Are you okay?" He seemed to generally care but Marie was too caught up in her emotions to speak. She held her hands against her head as awkward and painful memories came back to her. She didn't even notice a beautiful red-headed woman come in until she spoke, her voice serious and professional. Not as friendly as Hank or Scott's.

"She needs to speak with another woman Scott; I will call you and Mr. McCoy back in here after I've spoken with her," The red head spoke giving Marie a friendly and concerned smile. Scott let out a sigh and made his way towards the door, Hank turned to follow searching Marie's face before leaving. She begged him with her eyes not leave her alone, him being the one she felt most comfortable around, but he knew Dr. Grey would help her relax.

"Why don't you have a seat Rogue? I'm Dr. Jean Grey by the way," The red head sat down placing a large duffle bag at her feet and patted the spot next to her motioning for Marie to sit. Marie's legs suddenly felt very tired and strained and she slowly sat down next to Jean.

"I'll go ahead and let you know that we are very, very far from where we found you. You are safe here and we will do everything we can to make you comfortable. Naturally I have a lot of questions for you but I want you to get comfortable before I ask you anything," Jean took Marie's hands in hers and looked her in the eye, her voice became soft and concerning, "you can tell me anything, I am to be your friend from now on and I want to help you in any way I can."

Marie just nodded.

"I'm sure Dr. McCoy has already told you that this is a boarding school for mutants, so if you will come with me I will show you to the room you will be staying in until we contact your family."

"Ah-ah don't have any family," Marie said.

"Oh… Well then you are more than welcome to stay here as long as you like, why don't you change into some clean clothes?" Jean picked up the duffle bag and handed it to Marie.

"You can change in the room over there."

Marie shuffled over to the bathroom and let out a long sigh sitting down on the closed toilet seat. She felt like crying but instead held it inside while she unzipped the duffle bag. Inside were a long sleeve shirt, a scarf, jeans, panties, a bra, and a pair of long opera gloves. They apparently didn't want her touching anyone by mistake.

She changed and looked at herself in the mirror; it made her feel better seeing herself in fresh new clothes instead of dirty bloody rags.

"I bet that feels much better," Jean commented as Marie exited the bathroom.

"Y-yes, thank you…" Marie muttered and sat back down next to her.

"You have such pretty hair, why don't we take you to your room and you can shower and clean it?" Jean commented while running her hands through Marie's hair. Jean reminded her of a mother. Jean brought her other hand to Marie's temple and closed her eyes.

"W-what are doing?" Marie asked very confused by her actions.

"It's okay; I'm reading a couple of your thoughts. Don't be afria….." Jean stopped and her mother like front was gone in an instant and she gasped jumping back away from Marie.

"Why did you do that, ah don't want anybody else in mah head! Ah didn't want you to see that!" Marie screamed grabbing her head and standing up.

"I-I-I'm so sorry…." Jean was wide-eyed and shocked at what she saw in Marie's head. Jean couldn't help but tear up when she saw what was inside Marie's mind. She wasn't apologizing for reading her mind but for what she had seen Marie go through.

"I'm so sorry…." She repeated and looked away while Marie shook in anger and violation.

Hank came in confused and approached Marie.

"Is she alright?" He asked Jean,

"I'm sorry Marie I thought it would be easier if I read your mind, I'm sorry," Jean apologized.

"Don't call me by that name!" Marie screeched and looked to Hank for help.

"This is just a misunderstanding why don't we have Scott take her up to her room," Hank suggested and Jean nodded leaving the room in shock.

Marie did feel a little more at ease when Scott came back in but she was even less trusting after that incident.

"Hey," He said looking down at her through red, "I'll give you a tour while we head to your room."

She nodded and followed beside him as they left the infirmary.

Marie took in all of the mansion and its beauty as they made their ways through the long wooden halls. Students, her age, younger, and older would walk by chatting with their friends or waving hello to her. For the first time in a very long time she felt completely safe. She was also relieved that Scott didn't ask her any questions that she dreaded to answer.

They walked down a cozy hallway the sun casting shadows off trees from outside gave the hall a lazy feel. It had been so long since she had seen sunlight she couldn't help but smile. They stopped at a door with no name on it and Scott opened it.

"This will be your room," he held the door open as she looked inside.

It was beautiful and so peaceful. She immediately felt relaxed and just wanted to lie down and sleep, it had been so long since she slept in a bed. There was full sized bead with a canopy, a bay window and door that led to a bathroom. She stood there wondering if this was a dream it was such a drastic change from where she had been staying only a few nights ago. She shuddered while thinking of the damp cell stained with pain and sorrow. She shut her eyes and brushed the uneasy feeling off.

"Thanks for bringing me here…" Marie said turning to Scott.

"I'm glad I found you," He smiled.


	10. Adjusting

Lost & Found

Chapter 10 – Adjusting

Marie had never wanted a shower so bad in her life than she did now and she couldn't wait to wash the filth from her body. She walked into the bathroom admiring how nice it was with marble floors and granite countertops. It certainly was different from the stale cell she'd been confined in for the past two months. She looked at herself in the mirror and cringed. She could hardly recognize herself. She took the white streaks of hair outlining her face and ran her fingers through them. She watched herself in the mirror as she undressed and unveiled bruises and marks covering her pale skin. She had lost about 10 pounds and was missing the curves she had before Alkali Lake. She turned to her side and started unpeeling the bandages that Hank McCoy had dressed her in. Each bandage removed revealed memories of how the wound accrued upsetting her. Finally when all of the bandages were done she examined the gashes in shock. They were deep and cut perfectly, they almost resembled shark gills. Around each cut the skin was pink and raw. She turned away from the mirror no longer able to look at herself anymore. As she turned the shower water an overwhelming feeling of insecurity and awkwardness overcame her. She felt she needed to cover her stripped body immediately. She held one arm over her breasts as she grabbed for a towel. She quickly wrapped herself in it and sat down on the floor shivering.

She had never once felt so uncomfortable in her own skin, what had spawned this feeling? She brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around them while laying her head on top and wept. It hurt to bend like that, stretching her sensitive and damaged skin, but she wanted to hide herself from the world. The water continued to run as she rocked back and forth crying into her knees on the clean marble floor. After awhile she tried to shake off the awkward feeling, dried her tears, and quickly made her way into the shower. She practically screamed when the hot water hit the lacerations on her side. Blood trickled from them and swirled down the drain. She held onto the shower certain in pain almost yanking it down. She shook in pain and unsteadily squeezed some shampoo in her hand. She began caressing it in her hair while trying not to concentrate on her stinging injury. Dirt and shampoo ran down her bare body as the water tumbled down on her. After getting used to the burning in her side she started to enjoy the shower was relived to be clean. It was certainly much better than having a bucket of cold water poured on top of her.

Once done with her shower her body felt incredibly tired and it took all the effort she had to make it to the bed. She laid down and grabbed the duffle bag of clothes and pulled it towards her. She took out a night gown and a pair of gloves and put them on after re-bandaging her side. She laid backed down and stared at the light on her new nightstand. She was exhausted but couldn't seem to sleep.

There was a gentle knock on her door.

"Y-yes?" She sat up.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay, I brought you some pain killers and some milk," Hank muffled outside the door.

Marie slid out of the oversized bed and unlocked the door letting him in.

"I also brought you something to eat," He said grinning while holding a basket with enough food to feed a family with.

"That's a lot of food…" She giggled. _When was the last time she giggled?_

"I wasn't sure what you liked so I brought a bit of everything," Hank entered her room and placed the basket on the desk by the window. He dug in his pocket and took out an orange bottle of pills and handed them to Marie.

"Take 2 every 4 hours, no more than that. It's also good to have some food in your stomach before taking them," he instructed while she tossed two back and chugged the milk he brought.

"Thank you, ah really needed those…" She said sheepishly.

"You are more than welcome dear. Tomorrow, whenever you wake up is fine, you can come down to the infirmary and I'll dress those wounds in clean bandages for you."

"T-thank you…"

He smiled at her and headed to leave. She closed and locked the door behind him and grabbed the first piece of food out of the basket. It was an apple and she ate it an alarming speed. She examined the basket again after devouring the apple and her stomach turned. She covered her mouth with her hand and ran into the bathroom throwing the apple up in the toilet. At this moment she was very grateful to have a bathroom of her own.

After spending a while hovering over the toilet she felt better and made her way back to the bed. She was worried she might have thrown up the pills that Hank had given her but she was too tired to reach across the nightstand for the bill bottle. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Marie had horrid nightmares throughout the evening and they weren't Logan's or Gale's but her own. She twisted and turned in the sheets and she itched at the bandages on her side without realizing it. Her nightmare brought her back outside Alkali Lake in the snow with Logan towering over her.

_Logan flipped her over on her back and leaned in close staring at her through feral black eyes. She no longer recognized the Logan she knew and spoke with less than two hours before, this was some kind of beast that had taken over him. He traced her cheek with the side of his cool metal claw barely cutting her skin, she whined and he bite down on her neck. He bit down just hard enough to leave a mark and then began licking and nibbling up and down her neck and collar bone._

_"Logan?" She said through chattering teeth. She tried to sit up but he pushed her back down pinning his body closer against hers. He snarled in her ear as a warning. _

_"You're not yourself, you don't realize what you're doin' Logan," Marie tried to talk him down but he ignored her and continued to lick and nibble her body grunting and moaning. His hands tightened around her arms and he began tearing at what was left of her shirt with his teeth revealing her breasts. She blushed feeling his hot breath on her chest and goose bumps rose about her body. Logan began licking her breasts with his warm tongue. She knew this wasn't right, it was against her will and normal Logan would never do this to her but at the same time it felt good to her. No one had ever touched her like this before and even though she was scared to death she enjoyed it. She couldn't tell if her body wouldn't move out of fright or pleasure. He kept one hand griped tightly on her left arm and the other made its way to the band of her shorts. His calloused fingers caressed the impressions in her skin left by the elastic of her shorts. She felt disgusted with herself for liking it. He slid his hand down her shorts and moaned into her ear as he felt her down her panties. Her eyes widened and her body arched forward and she began to cry. Her tears froze on her pink cheeks and burned her skin as they trickled from her eyes. Her emotions were all over the place; she felt violated, scared, and overwhelmed by the sensation of human touch._

_"Stop it," she whimpered trying to wiggle out from underneath him. He snarled and pushed himself harder against her sinking her deeper into the snow. All of the sudden she got a rush of adrenaline and managed to bring her knee up between his body and her own and kneed him in the crotch as hard as she could. He howled in pain and released her and she used this opportunity to run. She ran as fast as she could through the snow and into the woods, her lungs burned and bare feet tingled in pain. Once in the woods the snow was thin but the ground was muddy. She slipped in the mud and fell hitting her back hard against a dead tree trunk. A sharp shooting pain ran all the way from her hips to her neck. She groaned in pain and hunched over. _

_At this point all her adrenaline was gone and she couldn't go on any longer. This is where she would die, she thought. If not by the condition she was in, then by Logan. She couldn't grasp her mind around Logan, what had happened to him? Her heart ached in her chest. She closed her eyes as she heard him approach her huffing and puffing, looking for his prey._

_"We were supposed to get out of this together!" She yelled at him, her voice weak and raspy. She opened her eyes and looked up as he stood across from her just staring at her. She wondered if he had finally come to his senses. _

_"We are supposed to help each other..." She used the last of her strength to stand up. She limped towards him and he held still as she wrapped her arms around him. She held him close and he didn't flinch even once. He looked down at her breathing hard with a confused expression on his face._

_"Oh God Logan..." She whispered burrowing her face in his chest. She couldn't believe she had any tears left, but they leaked from her eyes and ran down his bare chest. She started to shake violently from the cold and huddled as close to him as possible. They stayed like this for a moment until they heard gunshots near by. Logan's body tensed up even more and his chest rumbled. _

_"Wolverine!" Stryker's angry voice echoed throughout the woods. As soon as his voice touched Logan's ears he went berserk again. He pushed Marie away from him and she went tumbling to the ground once more. He looked at her with disgust and anger, as if she had betrayed him._

_"Nooo!" She cried. Just when she thought she had gotten through to him. He lashed at her, his adamantium claws gleaming as they cut into her skin. It happened so quick it took her a minute to realize what he had just done to her. She looked down and there were three long incisions starting from her side and ending almost at her belly button. After a few seconds blood started to pour from them and she held her shaking hand close but too afraid to touch over the wound. She didn't feel any pain, just complete shock. She looked up at Logan with wide eyes as he towered over her. She was completely speechless; no words would come from her mouth. _

_"Wolverine!" Stryker yelled again, this time much closer. Logan gave Marie one last look before he ran off deep into the woods. She could hear him howling like wolf until everything around her became still and quite. She could feel Gale tugging at her inside her subconscious, demanding that she get up and move but her body just couldn't. She laid there in the mud against the dead tree like a rag doll half nude and covered in a mix of mud and blood. She couldn't comprehend what had just happened, her mind was completely blank. She sat there shivering and unable to move until everything around her went black and she passed out._

_That night she woke again in the same spot surprised to still be alive. Her body was so pale, almost blue. But she was more alert now than before. She tried to stand but her body wouldn't budge. She tried over and over but it was no use. Every muscle in her body had shut down. She still felt no physical pain, but recalling what all had happened struck her with grief. She sobbed and experienced an array of emotions. She felt fear being alone in the dark woods with no hope of ever leaving, she felt violated by the way Logan had treated her body, she felt betrayed by him for what he had become, but at the same time she felt scared for him. She wondered if he would ever return to the same man he was, and if so would she ever see him again? She had come to love him while they were confined together. She knew she was going to die here and she thought about everything she had done in her life. She was grateful that she had the chance to kiss him before this happened... her first kiss and only kiss. She never thought she'd be able to touch another living thing so she figured having done that was enough to satisfy her before death, if only she knew what fate had in store for her love. _

_She closed her eyes and waited for death…_

Marie woke in the bed screaming. She was panting and slid her hands along the bed making sure it was real and she wasn't still dreaming or inside someone else's memories. "Oh Logan…" She gasped and pushed herself out of the bed. When her feet touched the floor her legs almost collapsed from underneath her but she regained her composure as best as she could and left her room to find Hank or Scott. She ran down the hallway in only a night gown and gloves and stumbling over herself crying out for Hank and Scott. She passed many students who watched in shock as she ran the halls like a mad woman. A few students tried to speak to her but she rushed by before they could get a word in.

"Scott! Hank!" her screams echoed down the halls

"Rogue, are you okay?" Jean hurried towards her.

"Don't come near me!" Rogue hollered looking back at her in anger. She tripped over her feet and went crashing down.

"Let me help you," Jean reached down to help her up with a hurt look on her face. Marie was about to place her gloved hand in Jean's when Hank came running towards them.

"What's wrong?" He kneeled down beside Rogue.

"Ah have to find him; oh God ah can't leave him out there like that!" Marie desperately explained.

Just then Scott came up from behind them.

"What's going on? Rouge?" He asked worried and confused by Marie's behavior. By this time students were accumulating around them to observe the commotion.

"Ah have to go back and find Logan!" Marie demanded in panic.

"You are by no means in any shape to leave the bed let alone…"

"_Logan?_ He was the one who did this to you," she pointed at Marie's side, "why would you want to find him so badly?" Jean interrupted Hank. She had seen what Logan had done to Marie when she looked inside her head. He had almost raped and nearly killed Rogue; she didn't understand why she would demand to see him.

"What??" Scott looked at Jean, anger in his voice. "_Who_ did this to her??

"Please Hank, ya'll don't understand. I need to find him, If you won't help me ah'll go on my own," she begged the furry blue man.

"No, no way!" Scott insisted. Meanwhile Jean tried to get the students gathered around to go back to their classes.

"My, this must be Rogue," an older man in an automatic wheel chair approached them.

"Professor?" Scott asked surprised. "You're back already?" He stood to his feet and stood by the handicapped man's side.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Rogue. My name is Charles Xavier," He said holding his hand out to shake.

Marie looked Xavier straight in the eyes. "Please help me," she asked in a distressed tone and then she fainted. Hank caught her before her head hit the floor and Scott took her from him holding her in his arms, much like he did when he first rescued her but this time careful not to touch her skin. Whatever device she was wearing at the time he rescued her was with Hank and he dared not to touch her bare skin. Jean felt a small pang of jealousy even though she knew in her heart that he was only trying his best to help. Because Scott was the one who found her he felt responsible for her. She herself felt bad for the tragic girl and wanted to know more about her. Scott carried her to her room while Jean and Hank explained the situation to the professor.

"If she still wants to find this man when she wakes up I'll show her Cerebro," he told them.

"Are you sure it's such a good idea to bring that man here? He could be a danger to the children. This man, _Logan_, took advantage of her and almost killed the poor girl," Jean stated and Hank nodded in agreement.

"Then there must be more to the story if she wants to find him so badly. Perhaps what you saw in her mind was scrabbled? I have a feeling there is more to what's inside this girl's head than we think. I'd like to take a look myself if she'll allow me."

Scott laid Marie down on her bed and observed her for a moment. How could a human being do something so awful to this girl? Scott couldn't imagine her doing anything to deserve being treated like that. He couldn't understand why she wanted to find that man after he'd done such things to her. He admitted to himself that he didn't know the full story behind the events and tried to clam his anger. He gently closed her door behind him and went to find Jean.

Jean had just finished teaching one of her classes when Scott arrived.

"Hey," she spoke lovingly. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss.

"I want to know more about this Logan guy before Rogue wakes up. What did you see when you looked inside her head?"

Jean sighed and sat down at one of the student's desk.

"He was…like a wild animal. I only caught a few glimpse and they were pretty disturbing. Although I'm more worried about what else is going on at Alkali Lake. I believe they are capturing mutants and experimenting on them. It's not Magento's doing either…."

"That's what Storm said before we went out there. The professor hasn't confirmed anything though," Scott informed her.

"The professor is going to try to look deeper inside Rogue's mind when she's ready. She doesn't seem comfortable around me so I'll leave her be. I still don't think it's right for us to take her back out there."

"With or without her we've got to go back. If there are more mutants out there suffering we have to save them and stop whoever is doing this," Storm spoke as she entered Jean's office. Jean and Scott had been so deep in thought they didn't notice her at the door.

"I'll speak to the professor about going back there. I know he's not in the best condition to go with us, but if we assemble a good team we should be fine," Storm said sternly. She cut her visit short and turned to leave.


End file.
